Distress
by VioletOakCypress
Summary: Recent Starfleet Academy graduate Cora Patrick thinks that she's seen trouble when she's removed from her very first post. But nothing could prepare her for the crew of the USS Enterprise, and the mystery she has to help solve. Trapped in space, losing power, attacked by a violent alien species, Cora must make a choice that could save everyone, or kill them all.
1. Chapter 1

A siren wailed as crewmembers rushed down corridors. Lights were flashing along the walls. Ensign Patrick jolted to her station in Engineering. She quickly began to type onto the panel. Her heart was beating rapidly, knowing the situation is dire.

"What's the status, Ensign?" Lieutenant Levinson asked Ensign Patrick over the commotion. He was her superior officer and head of Engineering. He was fifteen years older than the young officer and worked his way up to this position aboard six ships. He cared about the ship and the crew. He saw Patrick continue to type and search through the data. "Ensign?" Levinson asked again, this time with a demanding tone to his voice.

The Ensign looked up from her station toward her Lieutenant. "There is something really wrong here, sir." Lieutenant Levinson walked to the station to see what the problem was. When he looked at the panel, all of the information showed that everything was running efficiently.

"I don't understand this shows that everything is ok, what is the problem?" He started to become increasingly agitated.

"Sir, the fact that the panel shows everything is okay _is_ the problem. The warp core has a malfunction but we are unable to get accurate information from the computer. We would have to do a complete diagnostic on the system." Patrick explained to her senior officer.

Levinson appeared frustrated. "Yes, I am aware that we need to run a diagnostic on the system, but that isn't our main priority at the time, Ensign, we have to repair the warp core. Think about your priorities!" He stormed away from her to another officer working on the warp core.

"But I _am_ thinking about my priorities!" She yelled back to her superior officer. "I am trying to save the ship!"

Levinson had just about all that he could. "Look, you may have been top of your class and a good engineer, but on this ship you need to follow command and you have a bad habit of doing things without being authorized to do. So you are going to follow my command or you are going to be relieved of your duties. You are just getting in my way here." The Lieutenant spoke sharply and went back to working on the warp core.

Ensign Patrick left Engineering without question. A million thoughts were running through her head, not sure what to do. She knew that the problem with warp core was caused by a much larger problem that they were unable to detect on their equipment. If this wasn't discovered, all of the systems could fail and could mean the loss of the ship and its crew. She took a deep breath and ran down the corridor to an access tube.

She opened the small door and crawled through the internal caverns of the ship. She pulled out her tricorder and scanned the walls. After passing a few meters she found the anomalous reading she was looking for. Patrick pried the panel cover from the wall to expose several wires, tubes, cables, and connecters. She scanned again and the reading was more prominent. She knew this was the place, but still not sure what she was searching for.

The Ensign moved to the adjacent panel and pried that off. She pushed her hand through the cables and felt something wet on her fingers. She pulled her hand out to see a glowing blue gel on her fingers. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed. She found the problem. Now she had to figure out how to repair it, and time was running out. After assessing what cables were connected to what, she began to cut the ones that were unessential. Patrick was now able to see a large cable with the gel bubbling out of it. She got up and reached the panel on the wall where tools are kept, grabbed what she needed and headed back to the problem. She repaired the leak, sealed it and cleaned up.

Suddenly the access tube door opened and her Lieutenant came through with two crewmen in tow. "Ensign Patrick, once I saw that the access door was opened, I knew I would find you in it. Alright, come with me, we are going to the Captain."

She wanted to explain her case; however she felt that it would be fruitless at this point. She knew she was in major trouble this time. This was not the first time she upset her superiors and defied orders. She always thought that she was doing the right thing, and for the right reason.

Levinson led the group to the Captain's conference room. Once there, the two crewmen stood outside the door, obviously she was now being under guard. This did not make her feel any more comfortable.

Captain Cirroc sat behind his desk and didn't acknowledge anyone. He was an older man who started off his career in Starfleet over thirty years ago. He was highly decorated and forced respect. However the gray hair atop his head conveyed that he was getting older and out of touch. Some would say that he was not fond of advancements in technology and was hesitant to change how _his_ ship would run. He developed a reputation of being a real hard-ass and sometimes unfair towards the younger generation.

After waiting for what Ensign Patrick thought was an eternity, the Captain looked up at the Lieutenant. "So, Levinson, tell me what happened."

"Well Sir," Levinson started, "during the commotion, while trying to correct the problem with the warp core, Ensign Patrick disobeyed my orders. After being relieved of her duties, she was discovered in an access tube tinkering in the main control panels."

The Captain had his two pointer fingers resting on his lips while he was listening; he dropped his hands and looked through the digital files. "Ensign Cora Patrick, is that correct?" He stopped and looked up at the nervous Ensign; she nodded. "I see here that you have had multiple issues with Lieutenant Levinson since you have been aboard." He put the PADD down on his desk. "I am not going to put up with this anymore. I have a crew taking a shuttle back to Starfleet and I want you on it… You are dismissed."

"But wait, Captain that is unfair. You didn't even let me explain what happened!" She protested as she was being escorted out of the room. The security officers walked her back to her quarters where she was to remain until the transport was ready to depart. As she was packing up her personal belongings, she received a message to report to Admiral Pike upon returning to earth for a debriefing. Cora sighed and fell back onto her bed, "My career in Starfleet is over."


	2. Chapter 2

Cora stood outside Admiral Pike's office fidgeting with her Class A uniform wondering if this is the last chance she will have to wear it. The receptionist gave her a nod; Cora took a deep breath and walked into his office. The Admiral stood at the window, staring outside, he turned around as Cora walked in. He gave a small, yet warm smile and motioned her to sit. "Thank you, Sir." Cora took a seat with her cap in her lap.

Admiral Pike looked at Cora and leaned back in his seat. "Ensign, I have called you here to review your time on-board the USS Aldrin. I have looked through your file and you have had several disciplinary actions listed, stating that you do things without authorization and on your own terms. Could you please explain to me why you were transferred from your post?"

The nervous officer thought for a second and responded, "I defied orders, Sir."

"I know that is what the report states. What I want to know is: what were the events that took place the day that Captain Cirroc transferred you off of his ship?"

"I reported to Engineering, there was a breech in the warp core. The team was working on locating the problem. I was assigned to diagnose the readings and outputs from all the components connected to the core. I could tell something was wrong, even though all the readings showed that everything was operational."

"What do you mean? Please explain how you could tell something was wrong." Pike interrupted.

Cora paused, took a breath, and then continued, "Sir, when everything is working properly the ship makes a particular sound. When I was trying to find the solution, I could hear a difference in the ship. Everything was working harder than normal. I knew there must be some kind of leak. So when I looked closer at the readings, I saw that they weren't low, so they weren't triggering the alarm, they were actually high, too high. I tried to explain to Lieutenant Levinson that we were dealing with more than just the warp core, but he didn't want to listen to me. After he relieved me from my duties, I took it upon myself to find and fix the problem."

"Which meant crawling through an access tube, disconnecting circuits to other areas of the ship, which needed to be repaired by the way, and found this problem that was detrimental to the ship and the entire crew?" The Admiral questioned.

"Correct… Sir." She stared straight ahead, not making eye contact.

"When I read the report from Captain Cirroc, I also reviewed your cadet file. You were first in your class, specializing in system diagnostics. You also did very well in all of your testing. I am curious as to why a well-trained and intelligent, young officer would fail so horribly in her first posting." Pike took a pause to see Cora's response. She sat in her seat, perfectly still, while listening to what the Admiral had to say. She was not trying to make excuses for her actions. "What do you think of Captain Cirroc?"

"He is a very formidable captain, Sir."

"I think he is a royal jackass, myself." Pike picked up a tablet and handed to Cora. "Here, this confirms that you are no longer an Ensign assigned to the USS Aldrin. It also has your new orders, promoting you to a Lieutenant and reassigning you to the Enterprise. A shuttle is leaving in a few hours."

The newly promoted officer stared at the Admiral in disbelief and dumbfounded at what to say. "Sir, are you sure? Is this correct? I am only an Ensign, surely you didn't mean to bump me past Lieutenant First Class _and_ reassign me to the Enterprise?"

Pike let out a small chuckle. "Look, you proved your loyalties and capabilities to me if others can't see or appreciate that, then to hell with them. Your promotion was earned. You saved all of the lives aboard that ship, whether Cirroc cares to acknowledge that or not. The Enterprise is being sent out on a rescue mission and it can use someone with your capabilities onboard."

"What kind of rescue mission, Sir?"

"We received word that the USS McNair is in distress, needing engineering assistance. You will be briefed of your duties when you report to your new post." The Admiral stood up and walked toward Cora to shake her hand. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Patrick, now go board the transport shuttle. I wouldn't want you to be late reporting to your new post."

Cora smiled from ear to ear. "Thank you, Admiral Pike; I won't let you down, Sir"

"Be sure that you don't"

Cora took her tablet with her new orders and turned to walk out of the office when she heard Pike call to her. "Oh Lieutenant," she turned, "don't forget your cover." He handed her the cap she left on the chair. She nervously chuckled and took the cap, thanked him again, and left the office.

* * *

Cora reported to the transport shuttle. She was one of a group of sixteen people heading to the Enterprise. She was shown to a seat where she strapped herself in while trying to contain her excitement over her new assignment. A young science officer was shown the seat next to her. The two women looked at each other and smile. "Hi, I'm Cora," she said leaning over to her neighbor.

"Reeka." The young woman stated while shaking Cora's hand.

Cora asked, "Is this a new post for you?"

"Yes." She responded with a smile, "It is my first on a ship. I was stationed at Starfleet Science while I was advancing my training. What about you?"

"I was just transferred from the USS Aldrin today." Cora stared at the small ridges on the bridge of Reeka's nose and asked, "Where are you from?"

"I am from Alaska."

"I meant originally." Cora said as she was pointing to her own nose.

Reeka blushed grabbing the ridges on her nose. "To be honest, I have no idea. My family has been moving around for a couple hundred years. We have all lost track of who we are and where we come from. I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and that's where I call home. What about you? Where are you from?"

Cora looked out the shuttle window and could see the lights of the city. "Here, in San Francisco. As far back as I could remember I wanted to join Starfleet. I think part of it was that it was in my own backyard." She could now see the Golden Gate Bridge, "It is my destiny."

Both women kept their eyes on the infamous bridge as long as they could until they were into the atmosphere. The shuttle ride didn't take that long since the Enterprise was in orbit. This stop at Starfleet was needed to pick up the additional crew members, make some minor repairs and restock supplies.

The shuttle passengers were advised that they were minutes from landing on the Enterprise and to be ready for departure. Cora and Reeka sat up while remaining strapped in to their seats, both anxious to land.

The shuttle docked and the hatchway door opened. A Lieutenant approached the passengers who started to unhook their restraints. "Attention please, I need the following people to come with me, Johnson, Erikcs, Mila, Riggs, and Adders. The rest of you will meet an officer when you exit the shuttle." The new crew followed the Lieutenant.

Reeka and Cora got up and headed out of the shuttle. Standing still in the shuttle bay was a Vulcan officer. "Hello." He stated. "Welcome to the Enterprise."


	3. Chapter 3

The crew members had all exited the craft and lined up in front of the Vulcan officer. He stood like a statue with his arms behind his back. "Hello, I am Commander Spock and I am the First Officer aboard this ship. I will be escorting you to your assignments. Please follow me." He picked up a tablet from the officer of the shuttle and headed out through the shuttle bay doors.

He reviewed the crew member's information that was listed on the PADD as he walked. They followed in a line behind him, by twos. The group remained quiet while taking in the ship, in all of its splendor. Spock stopped at an entryway and pushed a button to open the door and he called out names of three people. They left the group and entered the room. Without a word, Spock looked at his list and then continued down the corridor.

As they turned the corner, the eight remaining crew members marveled at the vast list of names, each one was etched out on a placard made of glass that covered the wall from top to bottom. It was an elegant display.

"Who are these people listed?" Reeka asked.

Spock stopped and turned to his followers. "They are the men and women who have lost their lives while assigned to the Enterprise." He paused. "The crew has commonly referred to this as _The Red Wall_."

"Why is it called that?"

"To be perfectly honest, I have yet to find out." Spock answered matter-of-factly.

The group continued walking, following the Commander. Cora began to recognize some familiar sounds. Her eyes widened as they stood at the main entrance to the heart of the ship. Spock stopped the group and said, "Welcome to Engineering."

Cora leaned toward Reeka, "This is probably where we part ways."

"We must be sure to find each other later." Reeka responded. The two new friends nodded to each other.

Spock approached an officer and they exchanged greetings, he then turned back to the group. "Ms. Patrick; Mr. Ka; this is Lieutenant Commander Scott. He will be taking you from here. The remainder will come with me to Science and Medical." Mr. Spock started down the corridor. Reeka waved to Cora as their group walked away.

Mr. Scott reviewed his new officers as they stood waiting for his direction. "Alrighty then, come follow me." The trio walked around the massive engineering department. The two young officers couldn't help but have their mouths drop out the sheer magnitude of the facility. Cora observed that it was twice the size of the Aldrin's engine room. "So, which one of you is my General Technician?"

Lieutenant Ka raised his hand. "That would be me, sir."

"I want you to work here with Keenser; he can show you the ropes."

"Sure thing." Ka responded while staying with the petite alien.

Cora tried to keep up with her new commanding officer and not get too distracted by what she considered to be the glitz and glamour of the ship.

"Ok, Ms. Patrick, this is where I want you stationed today. Are you familiar with diagnostics on power couplers?" She nodded, then Scotty handed her a toolkit which contained the supplies she would need. "Let me know if you need anything. I will be back to check on you in a wee bit."

Mr. Scott walked toward other crew members while Cora started to work on the couplers. She overheard them talking about the damaged shuttle in the shuttle bay that was in need of repairs. "I am not sure when we will be able to get to it, sir." One crewman said.

"Possibly next week." The other one added.

Mr. Scott appeared a little frustrated, "Ok lads; get to it when you can. We need to make sure that our engine is purring like a kitten."

* * *

Cora finished her work and Scotty patted her on the back as he walked behind her. "Great job today, Patrick." He handed her a tablet. "Here, this has the information of your quarters and where they are located. It also has your work schedule. I will see you tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Mr. Scott." She took the tablet from his hand. "You have a good night, too." She turned to exit and headed down the corridor toward the turbolift.

After a short ride, she turned to the left to locate her quarters. Cora approached her assigned room door and pressed the button to enter. She could see an empty bed in front of her and someone lounging on the bed on the right who was reading an vintage book with real paper pages. Her roommate lowered the book yelled, "I was hoping it would be you!" Reeka and Cora hugged each other. Cora felt so much more comfortable knowing that she wasn't bunking with a total stranger.

The roommates sat together on the same bed. Cora asked, "So how was your first day?"

"It was really good, a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be. Mr. Spock is pretty intimidating, however, but he is very good at his job. I hope you get the opportunity to work with him. How was Engineering?"

"It was a blast!" Cora exclaimed, "It felt so good to do something productive and to have Mr. Scott acknowledge it instead of ordering me around. I actually can't wait to get some more work done." The two friends talked all throughout the night, so excited to be on the ship.

* * *

A few days had flown by and the roommates had now become best friends. Cora sat up in bed and could see that Reeka was still fast asleep. She carefully got out of bed, trying to not wake up her roommate. Reeka sat up and yawned as Cora was pulling up her boots.

"Where are you going so early?" Reeka asked.

Cora stood up and fixed her uniform skirt, making sure it wasn't wrinkled. "I have a meeting with Scotty this morning."

Reeka's auburn hair was sticking up and her bangs kept falling in her face. "You're so lucky that you get to call your commanding officer 'Scotty' I still have to call mine Mr. Spock. I wouldn't dare to try calling him anything else. I think he would do that _pinchy_ thing to me."

Cora rolled her eyes. "Don't be so silly. Now come on, you can't be late either." She threw the uniform at Reeka's face with a smile. "Or Spock will do that _pinchy thing_!" Cora laughed and left the room.

She rushed in and out of the people walking down the corridor, wanting to be early for her meeting. She turned the corner and stopped as she saw Scotty speaking with Mr. Spock.

"Oh great," Cora thought to herself. "I hope he didn't hear Reeka and me talking about him."

"Hello, Lieutenant Patrick." Spock said as he walked past her toward the bridge, his arms clasped behind his back.

"Good morning, Commander." She said as he was already a few meters away. She turned her attention toward Mr. Scott.

"Patrick, I wanted to speak to you this morning about a matter in the shuttle bay, please follow me." He spoke so stern. She wasn't used to that coming from him.

Cora became increasingly nervous with each step they took. She had been through these conversations before with her old Lieutenant. She was starting to think twice about what she did.

Cora's hands became sweaty with anticipation. They entered the shuttle bay and walked toward a shuttle. "I was hoping you could explain something to me. I assigned two crewmen to do repairs on this shuttle. When I went to speak to them this morning about the work that was done, they confessed to me that they had yet to get to it. I had a hunch that you might be the culprit." Scotty stared at her.

"Yes, sir; I did the repairs." She admitted. "But it was after all of my duties were completed, I never worked here while you had me assigned somewhere else… Sir."

"Are you under the impression that I am upset with you?" Scotty asked.

"Well... I..." She stuttered.

Scotty chuckled. "No, I am quiet pleased. You did a fantastic job and I appreciate your dedication. Keep up the good work."

Cora stood there in shock. "Thank you, sir."

"Now, you get back up to Engineering, you have a lot of work to do and I have to report to a meeting with the Captain."


	4. Chapter 4

Captain Kirk walked into the conference room with Dr. McCoy right behind him. Kirk took a seat at the head of the table and McCoy to his left. Spock, who was standing, waiting for his Captain to arrive, sat to Kirk's right. Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu all followed suit.

The automatic doors opened as everyone looked to see Scotty walk through. "I'm sorry I'm late, Jim." He took a seat next to McCoy.

Kirk took a breath and looked at his senior staff. "As I am sure most of you are aware, we have been sent to assist with the USS McNair. They had some engineering issues and sent out a distress call. What you may not be aware of is that call was sent out almost a month ago. Due to power failures, the crew was unable to send a subspace transmission and instead launched a communications probe. One of our outposts picked it up approximately three weeks after it was launched.

"What was the McNair able to report through the probe?" Spock asked.

"Not good news, that's for sure." Kirk replied. "Their last report consisted of major power failure to the entire ship and at risk of losing life support. We have no idea if anyone will still be alive when we reach them." He paused. "So this is what I need. Uhura, let's hope they've been able to recover power to their communication systems, I want you to start sending out hails and see if we can get anything. Scotty, with their significant power loss and no explanation for it, your crew needs to be prepared for anything. Bones, has to be ready for emergency response. We don't know what condition the survivors would be in… if there are any."

Doctor McCoy turned to Scotty. "Mr. Scott, we could potentially have a ship full of patients. I might need one of your shuttle bays for the room."

"I'll get right on it." Scotty replied.

Kirk continued. "Sulu, all I have are the coordinates of where the McNair last transmitted from. That has been our heading. However, without power, they could be drifting off course through space. I need you and Chekov to scout and search for their location. Alright everyone, let's get to work." The officers started to stand. "Spock, stay for a second."

Kirk waited for everyone to leave the room. "I would like to know what you are thinking."

"I am curious as to what could have caused the loss of power throughout the entire ship, affecting multiple systems. The McNair has a very efficient crew, which leads me to believe they were unable to identify what caused the problem or unable to resolve it. This rescue mission could turn into an investigation as to why over 600 people lost their lives while aboard a Starfleet vessel."

"That's not the only thing that scares me."

"What is that, Captain?"

"I am worried that we are headed straight into a trap." Kirk let out a sigh.

Spock could see his friend was distressed. "I suggest we begin sending regular communications to Starfleet Command with our location and status. Possibly we can stay ahead of things if this is a trap."

Kirk touched Spock's shoulder. "Good thinking, please begin doing that."

Spock turned and walked out of the conference room, leaving Kirk alone. Kirk leaned back into his seat, staring out the window toward the stars. "A trap set up by whom?" He said to himself.

* * *

Doctor McCoy returned to the Med Bay after the briefing. He assigned his staff to do a complete inventory on the supplies and medicines they just received while he started to test his equipment. "Damn-it." He said to himself. He banged the machine a few times trying to make it function, and then grabbed his communicator. "Medical to Engineering."

"This is Engineering, go ahead, Doctor."

"Scotty, could you please send one of your guys over here to help me get some of my equipment working properly before we meet up with the McNair?"

"Right away." Scotty closed the communicator and turned toward Cora. "Patrick, I need you to head over to Med Bay and assist Dr. McCoy in anything he needs." She was excited to be chosen for her first assignment outside of Engineering. "And don't forget to bring a toolkit." He pointed to the rack of metal cases against the wall. Cora grabbed one from the shelf and exited toward Med Bay.

Cora approached the doors making them automatically slide open. She took a step in and looked around. She stood with both hands clutching the toolkit in front of her. Not seeing any one. "Hello?" She called out.

McCoy grunted and answered. "Yeah, one second," and grunted again. "There we go." He said as he finished tightening the latch on the underside panel. He tilted his head toward the doorway and saw a woman standing upside-down in front him. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." He pulled himself up and straightened his shirt. "Can I help you with something?"

Cora smiled. "Actually, I think I can help you."

The doctor looked puzzled. "I'm sorry?"

Cora held up the case she had in her hand. "Mr. Scott sent me. He said you needed help with some repairs."

"Oh, I was expecting… oh, never mind." He turned to the table he was just under. "Here, maybe you can take a look at this. The sensor readings are slightly off."

She removed the access panels and took out her tricorder. "Here's your problem, Doc. This wiring is loose." Cora worked to repair the wire and then replaced the panels. "Ok, what else do you have for me?"

McCoy moved to a different machine. "Why don't you come over here and diagnose this for me." He couldn't stand the silence between them as she worked, so he asked. "How long ago did you transfer onboard?"

"I've been here about three days." She said.

"What do you think of the ship?"

"It is incredible, a lot larger than the Aldrin." She didn't even lift her eyes from her work while she responded.

"Was that your previous post?" Cora nodded in reply. "I have a colleague on that ship. I was just speaking with him; he was telling me about some renegade Ensign running around the ship tearing it apart. Were you there when that happened?"

"Is that what they are saying? A renegade?" She asked looking hurt.

"Yeah, apparently they have to report back to Starfleet and run a full diagnostic and there are some major repairs to be done after the damage she caused."

"What?! You heard that _I_ was causing the problems? _I_ was the one trying to fix it! I even told my Lieutenant that we would need to run the diagnostic. Well there's gratitude for you." She stopped after she realized what she was saying.

"Well young lady, you just said a cotton-pickin' mouthful."

Cora put her tools down and asked. "Haven't you ever done something against the rules even though you knew it was the right thing to do?"

He thought of when he brought Kirk aboard the Enterprise while he was suspended. "I think I have an idea of what you're talking about." He concentrated on her eyes. She was so genuine. He couldn't help but believe her.

"My apologies, Sir." Cora said in a formal tone. "I don't want to mess up my second chance." She picked up her tools and moved over to another examination table. She started working with her back to the doctor. He looked up at her and focused on her short, brunette hair that was lightly touching her shoulders. Suddenly her hair flipped as she let out a screech.

"What happened?" He asked as he rushed to her. He saw that the restraining arm that was attached to the table contracted and Cora's hand was caught. "I got it, hold on." He tried to pull her at her wrist.

"Ow!" She exclaimed. She tilted her head toward the control panel. "You need to override the system; it's on that side panel." He pressed the code to override and her hand was released. She rubbed it. "Thanks."

McCoy let out a sigh of relief. "Don't mention it." He noticed that she was still grasping her hand. "Come here." He grabbed his tricorder and examined her hand. "It's not broken. You might be a little tender for a while."

She looked down at her hand. "That's ok, I've had worse. It is hard not to in my job."

He stood next to her, almost a head taller than she. He breathed in her aroma then quickly moved away from her after realizing what he was doing. "Well, Lieutenant I should get back to my inventory; and it looks like you have plenty to keep you busy with that temperamental machine." They both returned to working, when McCoy stopped and turned around. "Wait, I heard that the person on the Aldrin was an ensign, and you're a Lieutenant."

"Very good observation, Doctor." She said with a bit of sarcasm. "I _was_ an ensign while I was on the Aldrin; Admiral Pike promoted me before my transfer."

"I thought you said that he gave you a second chance."

"I was given a second chance. However, I never said that I had to beg for it. The Admiral said I earned my promotion."

McCoy leaned into her and whispered. "You have more twists and turns than a rollercoaster." He smiled and felt intrigued by her.


	5. Chapter 5

Cora walked into her quarters, went directly to her bed and laid down with her legs dangling off the edge. The bathroom door opened and Reeka stepped out wearing only a towel, her hair still wet and dripping onto the floor. "Hey, when did you get back?"

"Just now. I've been working in the Med Bay for the past two hours."

Reeka's eyes widened. "Oh, was Nurse Jackson there? He's so cute!"

"Cora stared at the ceiling, still lying on her back. "No, it was just Doctor McCoy and me. I was helping him do some repairs on some of his equipment." She sat up and grabbed her hand that was still throbbing.

"What's wrong with your hand?"

"I was attacked by a machine. Doctor McCoy helped me get it out. He said everything was ok, it just might hurt a while." She stared at the mark on that remained.

"Wow, it's a good thing you were with a doctor."

Cora thought about the doctor's face as he examined her hand and she grinned. "Yes, it is."

Reeka's mouth opened, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Cora tried not to blush.

"You smirked."

"No I didn't." Cora became defensive.

Reeka pulled out her uniform from the wardrobe. "Ok, if you say so."

"Are you going on shift? I thought you were off today."

"She slipped on the uniform. I was. Mr. Spock called me in. We have to do some work in one of the shuttle bays."

"The shuttle bays?" Cora asked with a confused look.

"We have to prep in case we need the room for the crew of the McNair. We are making preparations for anything. We have contamination equipment and portable science stations ready."

"Are they thinking there might be some kind of disease on the ship?" Cora was concerned.

"Spock wants to be prepared for anything. He says _it's only logical_."

Cora leaned over and started to take off her boots. "Yeah, that does make sense. So does this mean we are unable to hang out tonight like we planned?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Maybe you should catch up on some sleep or get in a workout."

"That does sound good. I need to get out some of this tension." Cora rubbed her shoulder.

"Well, you have a good night, and remember if you need anything you can always give Doctor McCoy a call." Reeka said with a huge grin.

"Oh shut up." Cora threw her boot toward Reeka as she exited their quarters.

* * *

Dressed in a grey bodysuit with a red stripe that ran across the shoulders, Cora entered the fitness center. She was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place it was three times the size of the one on the Aldrin. There were exercise machines with a few in use and a group of people were stretching in the corner. Cora made her way through the equipment toward the two rooms in the back.

Cora peeked in one of the rooms to see crew members practicing hand-to-hand combat. Behind her she started to hear the sound of blades hitting each other. She turned toward that room and saw two men fencing. They both wore white suits with mesh helmets. Cora could see that one of the combatants was superior to the other one. The master charged his opponent until he fell backwards. The man on the floor looked up to see a blade in his face. "Do you yield?" The man standing asked.

"Yield." The victim acknowledged.

Both removed their helmets. The victor helped up the other man and turned to the others watching. "Anyone else?"

"No one wants to fight you, Sulu, you're unbeatable." One person said and the crowed agreed.

Cora stepped forward from the hallway. "I'll have a go."

Sulu nodded and put his helmet back on while Cora suited up. She stood a few paces from Sulu and they held their swords in front of their faces and saluted them in a downward motion.

He advanced toward her. She was doing a pretty good job at defense. She blocked his moves. She knew he was being easy on her. They stood a step apart and he had her at a disadvantage. Cora swerved around him and took a few steps back.

"The game is on." Sulu said and started for her. Cora lunged twice with perfect form. The crowd realized that she had formal training. The two started to have a conversation with their blades going back and forth. They would twist and turn and continue their merry dance.

Suddenly, Cora almost lost her grip and leaned over to not drop her blade. Sulu took the advantage and stepped on her sword forcing her to drop it. "I yield." She stated knowing she was defeated. Sulu removed his foot and took a step back. Cora picked up her sword, they both saluted and took off their helmets.

"You've improved." Sulu said.

"I am still nowhere as good as you are." Cora replied. The two friends hugged each other.

Sulu pulled away. "It's so good to see you! Why didn't you tell me you were coming onboard?"

"I wanted to, but everything happened so fast. An hour after I received my orders, I was already on a transport on my way here. Then once I got here, I had to see you in person." Cora confessed.

Sulu chuckled. "Well, it was a pleasant surprise. Do you know how hard it was for me to keep my cool with you standing in the doorway wanting to challenge me?"

"It was the same for me. As soon as I heard the swords clinking together I knew it had to be you."

The old friends headed to a bench on the side of the room. The crowd that was eagerly watching the fight moments ago had started to dissipate from the room. Sulu grabbed a clean, folded towel from the rack against the wall and draped it around his neck to catch the dripping sweat. "How is your dad doing?"

"He's well. Same old." She nodded.

"Is he still upset that you followed me to Starfleet?" Sulu asked.

"Well I wouldn't say he's _upset_ , he would rather me find a safe job on dry land and out of the stars. But once I tell him that I'm here with you, I'm sure he will feel better. He always liked you."

"I know drinking alcohol after a workout is not a good idea, but I was planning on meeting Chekov at the O Club in an hour, did you want to join us?" He quickly changed the topic.

Cora looked at the time that was illuminated on the wall. "Yes that sounds like fun." She took a towel for herself and began to pat down the sides of her face. "I am going to take a quick shower and I will meet you there.


	6. Chapter 6

Cora walked down the long corridor toward the Officer's Club. As she got closer she could hear the music more clearly. She stood a meter away from the door, hesitant of going in. She wondered if Sulu was there and dreaded being the odd man out if he wasn't. "Come on Cora, you're a Starfleet officer, you can go into a bar by yourself." She said to herself.

Suddenly, the doors opened and two crew members walked out of the bar laughing with each other. Cora stepped into the dimly lit room and headed to the bar, to the right. She placed her hand on the countertop then looked around to try and see Sulu.

"Whadda ya have?" The bartender asked leaning in so he could hear her answer. Cora looked to find a large, male species of some kind in front of her, but didn't recognize it. He was huge with yellow, scaly skin like a reptile. He looked more like a bouncer than a bartender. However she noticed that he had kind eyes. She thought for a second, and then responded. "I will have a dark ale, please." The bartender smiled at her. "Coming right up."

Cora turned around with her back against the counter as she scoped the room for her friend. As she continued to turn to the left she noticed Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy sitting in the corner booth together. She then quickly turned the other way. She thought she was anxious before, now she was feeling completely out of her comfort zone. She worried about meeting her new captain. She didn't want to have the same bad relationship with the senior officers on this ship. She turned to see Sulu walk through the door with a young officer by his side.

"Cora, this is Pavel Chekov." Sulu smiled to see his friends come together. She looked at the shy young man who held out his hand, meekly for her to shake. "And this is one of my dearest friends, Cora Patrick."

He smiled. "You can call me, Chekov." They both released hands. She was glad to see that she wasn't the only nervous person in the room.

"Here ya go." The bartender yelled in Cora's direction and slid a pint of dark beer towards her.

Sulu looked at the drink. "Oh good, you already ordered something. We are going to grab that table, come meet us there." Sulu pointed to the far right-hand corner of the room and the two men began to walk in that direction.

Cora had to go back down the bar to pick up her drink. She tried to grab the glass, but couldn't reach. So she put one foot on the foot rest to give herself a boost. She then leaned over the counter. She soon realized that the seam of her skirt was lifting up higher than she intended. With one hand, she clutched her drink, the other she used to pull the bottom of her skirt.

She planted both feet on the ground then gave a quick glance to make sure no one saw. She turned to see her captain and the good doctor starting at her. "Oh great." She said to herself. Cora then took a big gulp of her drink, hoping it would erase what had just happened. She then went to join her friends.

Kirk kept his eyes on her as she walked further from their side of the room. "Is that my new engineer from the Aldrin?" He asked McCoy.

"Yes." The doctor said, also not taking his eyes off of Cora's red uniform. "I met her earlier today when she came to do some repairs in the Med Bay." Kirk looked at his friend and with just his expression Bones knew that he wanted to know his impression of the new Lieutenant. "I only had a brief encounter but she is incredibly knowledgeable. She doesn't have a problem speaking her mind and seems to relish in being correct. Kinda reminds me of someone I know." McCoy looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow.

The waitress walked away from the table just as Cora sat down. She had her back to the wall and was able to see the entire bar and its patrons. Cora placed her glass onto the table. Chekov looked a bit uncomfortable with his shoulders slouched inward. He looked to her. "So I hear you were recently promoted to a full Lieutenant from an Ensign? Is that true?"

Cora blushed. "Yes. I was in utter shock. I couldn't even believe it when Admiral Pike told me. I am so grateful to have been given a transfer here. I mean everyone's dream is to be on the _Enterprise_. It's so very…"

Her sentence was interrupted as someone landed on top of their table. The three friends stood up as the large crewman was pushed practically on top of Chekov. Sulu helped to pick him up. Cora looked to see the crewman's friends were laughing hysterically. She knew that it was done on purpose. She then looked at Sulu, who she could tell was upset about the whole ordeal, but was keeping his cool about it.

The man brushed himself off then patted Chekov really hard on the back. "Sorry, about that." He then returned to his laughing friends.

The waitress placed their drinks on the table. Chekov put a fake smile on his face, just wanting to get past what just happened. Cora finished off the last of her beer, she wiped her face and turned to Chekov. "How long have you been treated this way?"

Chekov shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking slightly embarrassed. "Since I can remember. But it did get worse once I was assigned here. I am the youngest person on this ship and some of the older enlisted crew like to remind me of it every chance they get."

Cora let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. That's not right." She brought her glass to her lips then realized that it was empty. "I am going to get a refill. You guys need anything?" They both shook their heads, still enjoying the drinks they already had. She got up and headed toward the bar.

The bartender approached her as she handed over the empty glass. She realized that she was close to the boorish group and latterly crashed her party.

"Let me get that for you, honey." One of the crewmen breathed on her. "My name is Wolfe, and you can bet that I am an animal."

She turned around and looked at the man who was standing behind her. "No thank you, Cora said with a smile, "I can get my own drinks, Mr. Wolfe."

"Why are you spending your time around _the_ _kid_? I would be happy to show you around the ship and give you a personal tour." His sweaty hand touched her upper arm while his fingers grazed over her skin.

Cora brushed his hand away. "That _kid_ , as you call him, is your superior officer and you are going to treat him with the same respect you should treat any other officer, understand?"

McCoy could see the situation was getting heated and was worried about what could happen. "Jim." McCoy nudged Kirk's arm with his elbow to get his friend's attention.

"I'm watching." Kirk reassured his friend.

Wolfe's anger grew after Cora denied his advances and then escalated even more after she told him off. She reached for her drink then walked past the brute without giving him a second thought. His face became red and he was in full-blown anger. He knocked the drink out of her hand and grabbed her forearm. Her friends watched from the table.

Sulu saw the glass crash to the ground and the beer splashing on bystanders. "Oh shit." He exclaimed while standing up. "This isn't going to be good."

Cora looked at the large hand gripping her arm and then looked up into his eyes. She took a breath. "I am going to ask you to remove your hand." She calmly told him. She stared at him, not even blinking. He snarled while grabbing her arm even more tightly. Cora took her free hand and twisted the wrist that was clutching her. His face widened in pain as he released his grip on her arm. He was so filled with rage that he lunged at her. While still holding his arm, she grabbed his shirt with her other hand and threw him over her shoulder. He landed flat on his back, looking up at her.

Sulu and Chekov ran to Cora and stood beside her incase his two friends wanted to retaliate. Instead, they stood there dumbfounded.

Kirk and McCoy rushed over then stopped a couple of meters away from the crewman on the ground, both in shock. McCoy went to the man to tend to any injuries. Kirk walked to Cora. "Are you alright?"

Cora's hand held onto her forearm where Wolfe held onto her and rubbed the tender spot. "Yes, I am okay." She was afraid of being reprimanded for her actions and felt compelled to speak up. "I am extremely sorry, Captain. I didn't mean to cause any trouble." She assumed the worst that she would be sent back to Starfleet again for a review.

Kirk looked at McCoy who was knelt down next to the crewman. "How is he, Bones?"

"Nothin' broken on him 'cept his ego." McCoy helped the man stand up.

Kirk looked to the other two crewmembers. "I would like for you to escort Mr. Wolfe back to his quarters. The three of you are to report to Mr. Spock before returning to your duties." The two men nodded and helped their friend out of the bar. Kirk looked back at the young Lieutenant. "I have been in my fair share of bar fights, I must admit, I didn't see that coming. Welcome aboard, Ms. Patrick." Kirk turned toward her friends. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Sulu, Chekov."

"Good evening, Captain." They said in unison. Kirk turned and headed out of the bar.

McCoy approached Cora. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She continued to hold onto her forearm.

McCoy looked at her arm. "Here, let me take a look at that." He gently lifted her hand away, to reveal the grip impression left on her by Mr. Wolfe. "You're going to have a nasty bruise. It seems like you are always getting hurt." He looked up at her. "Would you like to come back with me to the Med Bay for an examination? Make sure everything is ok?"

Cora became embarrassed and felt herself becoming flush. She knew she was ok but really wanted to take the doctor up on his offer. "No, I am fine. I appreciate it Doctor McCoy."

McCoy nodded his head; he too wanted her to go. "Make sure you put a cold pack on that and come to me if you start to have any issues, especially any numbness. We need those hands working in Engineering." He stared into her eyes and then realized he was staying fixed on her for longer than he should. He turned toward his crewmates and said his good-byes, turned and headed out of the bar.

The atmosphere had turned back into the same when Cora first came in. It was almost as if nothing happened. Chekov looked to Cora. "No one has ever done anything like that for me before. Thank you."

Cora felt excited and embarrassed all at the same time, yet had a smile on her face. She turned to Sulu. "It reminded me of that time when we were at the Academy."

"And you punched that guy who pinched your rear." Sulu finished her sentence while laughing. "That's what I was thinking earlier. I knew that some things never change."

Chekov had a puzzled look on his face. "You mean you have been in these kinds of fights before? What happened at the Academy? Can you teach me that?"

Sulu and Cora laughed as Chekov continued to ask questions. They sat back down at the table where Cora and Sulu filled their friend in on some old stories.


	7. Chapter 7

The turbolift door opened; Kirk and McCoy walked through.

"Captain on the bridge." Chekov stated.

Kirk sat in his chair and swiveled towards the helm. "How we doing Sulu? We find the McNair yet?"

"No sir. Chekov and I are running a grid search based on their last known location." Sulu focused on his control panel.

"Good, also let me now if there is anything else out there at seems off." Kirk leaned to the side of his chair and rested his chin on his fist.

Spock stood and walked towards Kirk. "Captain, now that you mention it, I've been have an issue with the sensor array. The signal is extremely weak. I have already run a diagnostic but not indicating any problem." Kirk got up and headed to Spock's station.

Kirk looked at the sensor report. "Let's get Scotty up here to take a look. Scotty?" He called on his communicator.

"Aye, Captain." Scotty replied.

"I need you to come up here. Spock is having an issue." Spock turned to Kirk with a raised eyebrow. "What should I have said?" Kirk asked with a grin.

Spock stood with his hands locked behind his back. "History has taught me that pointing out the inaccuracies in your vernacular is a fruitless endeavor."

"See, you're catching on." Kirk walked back to his chair.

A few moments later Scotty arrived and went directly to Spock's station. "What seems to be the issue?"

Spock showed him the station. "Mr. Scott, the sensor array is malfunctioning. It was working efficiently until a short time ago." Spock and Scotty both removed the panels and searched for the potential issue.

"So have you figured it out?" Kirk asked as the two officers searched behind the panel.

"I canne figure it out. For some reason all of the sensors are dead. I canne explain it." He sat back and scratched his head.

Dr. McCoy was observing the issue that had them baffled. "What about Lieutenant Patrick?" Scotty and Spock both looked at him. "She was telling me about some major issues she was able to diagnose and fix while she was on the Aldrin. Perhaps she can add some insight."

"Get her up here." Kirk ordered, interested to see what she would be able to offer.

Moments later, Cora stepped onto the bridge for the first time. She became increasingly nervous as she realized that everyone was staring at her. Then she noticed Sulu giving her an encouraging smile. Cora turned to Scotty. "What can I help you with, sir?"

Scotty showed her the panel and she started to examine everything. Scotty and Spock stood over her and watched while she worked. She asked for Scotty's help and he knelt down beside her. She told him what she felt the problem was.

"I cannot accept that as an answer." Spock interjected.

Kirk stepped forward. "Accept what? What's going on Scotty?"

"Well, sir, the simple answer is that we don't have one." Scotty answered.

"What?" Kirk said with a puzzled look.

Cora stood up. "We are losing power to this system. But there is no reason… no explanation. The main power supply is working. Everything is in working order. There is just no power."

Spock looked to Scotty. "Mr. Scott, surely you do not accept this as a final answer."

"Mr. Spock, Lieutenant Patrick is not saying we are giving up, but just that right now, at this point in time, we don't have anything to report." He turned to the captain. "I will get my team on this and locate the source, even if we have to tear the ship apart."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Kirk said.

"I could use Chekov's help for a wee bit." Scotty announced then Kirk nodded. "Come on, laddy." Chekov and Cora followed Scotty into the turbolift.

Spock stood with Kirk and McCoy. "Captain, having no explanation to this situation is not logical."

Sulu turned around in his chair. "Are you implying that they missed something?"

"I am not implying anything. I am simply stating that for every action there is a reaction. We have the reaction, now where is the action? I trust Mr. Scott explicitly in his knowledge and capabilities. He will be able to identify and solve this problem." Spock stated confidently.

"With Lieutenant Patrick's help, too." Sulu added with a subtle, snarky tone.

"I can not voice my opinion about her capabilities since I have only met the Lieutenant once before today and I have never worked with her." Spoke responded.

Kirk stepped between the two of them. "Ok, let's calm down a sec. They are working on it. Let's not jump to any conclusions yet. They probably just need some time."

Kirk stopped. He starred off, thinking to himself. He looked around at the crew then back to his first officer. "Spock, you have the bridge." He then headed to the turbolift.

"Jim" McCoy called out as he followed after his friend. "What are you thinking?"

"Bones, what if this loss of power has a bigger picture?" Kirk responded as he was rushing down the corridor.

"What are you talking about?" McCoy asked, concerned about what the problem could be.

"I am not exactly sure. I just think it's too much of a coincidence that we are in the same general area where the McNair lost power and now we are losing it too. Something doesn't feel right to me." Kirk and McCoy arrived at Engineering. "Scotty, we don't know a lot, but what we do know is that the McNair lost power. According to their dispatch, it started slowly by affecting minor areas and gradually spread across the ship. I do not want the same thing to happen to us. So we need to find a solution to this, and fast." Kirk stood catching his breath as McCoy stood by his side.

"Jim, look, you have some of the very best working on this."

Kirk put his hand on McCoy's shoulder. "Keep reminding me of that, Bones, or we're going to need a ship coming to rescue us."


	8. Chapter 8

Cora was sitting on the floor, in the corner of Engineering with a half dozen tablets spread-out in front of her. She went from tablet to tablet reviewing the data. Ka approached her and handed her another tablet. "Here is that information you were asking about."

She looked up and took it from his hand. "Thanks. Did you find out anything?"

He then crouched down in front of her. "There was only one report of power loss similar to ours, however it was in the Kellis System and they attributed that to passing through a nebula." Ka reported.

Cora sighed. "Which we haven't done."

"Exactly. So it has to be something else." Ka responded.

Scotty walked over to the pair. "You are still here? I thought you two left hours ago."

Cora looked up. "We're still trying to figure this out." She then let out a large yawn.

"I appreciate that, but you're no good to me without rest. I am ordering both of you to take the next three hours off. Go get some sleep, eat or whatever you need to do. We can start fresh when you return."

Cora and Ka reluctantly agreed. She picked up the tablets and stacked them on the desk then exited Engineering. As she walked toward her quarters, her mind continued to race, she knew she wouldn't be able to get any rest while she was so high strung. Cora decided to get out some steam by working out.

She changed and grabbed her bag then walked into the well-lit fitness center where she headed directly toward the weight bags. She strapped on her gloves and began to hit the bag over and over then harder and harder with each jab. Cora felt her frustrations melting away. She pounded away at the weight causing her hair to fall from her ponytail.

"What did that bag ever do to you?" Sulu asked.

Cora stopped then held onto the bag to keep it from swaying. "Oh, hey, you startled me."

"Would you want to be my sparring partner?" Sulu asked tilting his head toward the rear workout room.

"Sure." Cora used her wrist to wipe the sweat from her brow.

Sulu and Cora positioned themselves a few paces from each other on the padded flooring. They touched gloves and began to lightly jab at each other.

"Have you gotten any closer to finding the McNair?" Cora asked.

"Not yet. We have been launching probes and doing sweeps of the area." Sulu responded.

"Do you think it could have been attacked? Maybe Romulans?"

"Anything is possible. However, we would have detected debris by now if the ship was attacked or destroyed." He responded. "What about you? Were you able to find a solution to the power loss?"

Cora signed. "Not yet, and its bugging me. It doesn't make any sense. I am sure I'll be able to get it eventually. I thought if I distracted myself that it would come to me."

Sulu stopped fighting then stared directly at her. "Anything yet?" Sulu let out a chuckle.

"No." Cora snapped then playfully punched him in the arm a lot harder than how they were hitting.

Sulu smugly smiled. "So that's how it's gonna be." He grabbed both her arms and threw her to the ground. He got on top of her and laughed as he held her down.

Cora squirmed. "Get off of me, Sulu. It's not fair." She said as she struggled. "You're stronger than me."

"Do you give?" Sulu asked while smirking at her.

"I give." Cora said, reluctantly.

Sulu held her down even tighter. "Say uncle."

"Uncle." She snapped and sneered at her friend.

He gave her a light kiss on the cheek then sat up and released her. "I told you before, that you could never beat me."

Cora scoffed at Sulu while laughing at her. She squinted her eyes then kicked into his knee which made him fall backwards. Cora jumped to her feet laughing.

Sulu began to pick himself up. "Oh, I'm going to get you now."

His attack on her was interrupted by his communicator. "Kirk to Sulu."

"Go ahead, Captain." He said while attempting to keep his laughter to himself.

"I need you to report to the bridge."

"Aye." Sulu ended the communication and turned to Cora. "You better count your blessings. You got out of that one." The two friends then hugged. "I'll see you later." Sulu picked up his things and left the room.

Cora unstrapped her gloves, wiped her face with a clean towel and put her items back into her bag. She sucked down a half bottle of water then made her way toward the exit.

"You make new friends pretty quickly." McCoy said as he was leaning against the wall with his arms folded in front of him.

"Huh?" Cora stopped after being started by the doctor.

McCoy tilted his head toward the exit. "With Mr. Sulu. Do you usually make close friends so quickly?"

"No, actually." Cora smirked. "But Sulu and I have known each other since we were kids. To be honest, I joined Starfleet because of him."

McCoy stood up from the wall, seemed more at ease. "Well, I am glad you are stationed with a close friend."

"Me too." Cora shifted holding the bag from one hand to the other. "So what are you doing here, Doc? Working out?"

"I was. I am just going to head back to my quarters."

"I am, too. Would you like some company?" Cora couldn't believe she asked that. She hopped she wasn't coming off too forward, especially toward a senior officer.

"I would love to." McCoy said softly.

They started walking with each other down the hall headed to the crew's quarters.

"How was your workout?" McCoy asked.

"It was good. I got out some frustration. Laughing with Sulu helped too." She smirked. "I just get too much tension when I can't solve a problem. When this whole issue with the McNair is over I am going to need a deep massage." She said as she grabbed her shoulder.

"Where does it hurt?" He wanted to help.

Cora tried to have her fingers reach below her shoulder blade. "It's my lower trapezius muscle."

McCoy took a step back. "How do you know that? Have you studied medicine?"

"I have the standard field medical training." Cora stated.

"You don't learn about that in the field training." McCoy squinted his eyes.

Cora shrugged it off. "Oh, then I must have just picked it up somewhere." She continued walking, not wanting to talk about it. McCoy followed, still not sure what to make of his new friend. She was intriguing yet frustrating all at the same time. It only made him want to know her more.

McCoy looked to her arm. "How is your arm and hand doing?" He asked, obviously trying to keep the conversation going.

Cora smiled. "They both feel ok, Doc. Thanks for asking. It's really not that big of a deal." She didn't want to tell him that they were actually bothering her, but nothing she hasn't experienced before. She didn't want to come off like a weak, little girl who couldn't handle herself. "Well, here we are." She said stopping in front of her quarters.

"You let me know if those injuries are giving you any problems." He lightly touched her shoulder.

Cora held her arm, which was still hurting. "I will. Thank you. I'ts sweet of you to care." She turned to press the button that opened her door and stepped into the doorway. "Well, I really should get some rest. I do have to report back in a few hours."

"I should be getting some sleep, myself." McCoy agreed, however he didn't budge and starred at Cora.

She smiled. "I'll see you in the morning, Doc."

"Rest well." McCoy responded. She entered her quarters and the door shut behind her. McCoy started down the corridor and said aloud to himself, "Really Leonard? Pretty soon she will turn you into a babbling idiot.


	9. Chapter 9

Chekov and Sulu stood at the navigational chart, marking off locations they have already searched. Chekov drew a line from one point to another. "If we continue on this course, we should spot them here."

Sulu analyzed the data. "I agree. He turned toward Kirk. "Captain, permission to lay in a new course?"

"Permission granted." Kirk stated. "How long until we reach our destination?"

Sulu made some calculations in his head. "If we continue at warp four, we should arrive there in an hour."

"Let's do it." Kirk authorized then sat back down in his chair, leaning on the armrest.

* * *

Cora laid in her bed, shifted, tossed and turned. She pushed the covered off of her then pulled them back up in a huff. She shoved one of her legs out then covered her head with a sheet.

Reeka sat up in her bed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Cora pushed the sheet back down and slammed her arms down on top of her blankets. "I can't sleep."

"Well that is obvious. You have been keeping me up all night with you rustling around. Not to mention that you let out a sigh every hour. What is on your mind? Is it the power loss?" Reeka was concerned for her friend.

Cora stared up at the ceiling then closed her eyes. The image of McCoy standing in her doorway last night popped into her head. She sat up, trying to erase that thought from her mind. "Yes, I have been thinking about the missing ship and the unexplainable power loss." She thought about wrapping her arms around the doctor and inviting him into her quarters.

"Why are you blushing?" Reeka smirked.

"I am not." Cora replied as red as a tomato.

"Yes you are! You're thinking about the _Love Doctor_." Reeka teased.

Cora scrunched her face. "What if I am? We don't work in the same department. There aren't any regs against it." She sighed. "So what if I have a little crush, that won't change anything."

"Look, there is nothing wrong with being attracted to the man. He is handsome. I don't want to burst your bubble or anything, but I heard he was married. But hey, I could be wrong." Reeka shrugged.

"Come on, we need to get ready. We don't want to be late for our shifts." Cora announced as she started getting ready.

* * *

"Sir, we found it!" Sulu turned around in his chair toward Kirk.

Kirk jumped forward out of his chair. "Show me on the viewer." Kirk stared at a black screen. "Where is it?"

Sulu pointed to the far right corner of the screen to a tiny object. "There… Wait" Sulu adjusted the picture and the ship filled the view screen. There was no doubt. USS McNair could be seen written across the top of the vessel.

"Life signs?" Kirk demanded.

"I am reading no signs of life." Spock reported. "Basic life support systems are operational, yet limited power."

"I am heading over there. Sulu; Chekov; let's go. Spock, you have the bridge." Kirk annoucened.

Spock stood in front of his captain. "Sir, I must advise you to be cautious, we still don't know what happened or worst case, what could have potentially killed their crew."

"Thank you for the reminder. Assemble the rest of the team; I expect to leave in five minutes." Kirk entered the turbolift with his two crew members following.

* * *

"Patrick!" Scotty called out.

"Sir?" Cora acknowledged.

"I need you to report to the transporter room, on the double. You're going to be a part of the away team to the McNair." Scotty ordered. "I want you to see if their power loss is anything like what we saw on the bridge. We need to make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to us."

"Understood." Cora left engineering and quickly made her way to the transporter room. She was excited to go on her first away mission, yet nervous about the job that she had to do. Before reaching her destination, she saw her friend. "Reeka?" She called out. "Are you going too?"

"Yes, I just got the order. I'm a little anxious. Who knows what could be waiting for us over there." Reeka calmed down knowing that she wasn't the only rookie going on this mission.

"I am sure everything will be ok." Cora tried to reassure her scared friend, while having the same feelings.

The girls arrived to see a team transporting and disappeared from the room. Kirk turned around. "Great, you're the last of the group, let's go." The three stepped on the pad and vanished.

They arrived moments later on the vacant bridge of the McNair. There was enough power to have the emergency lights and life support working.

"Bones?" Kirk called to his friend.

McCoy walked around the bridge holding his tricorder. "I am not detecting any life signs. However I am not reading any bodies either. They aren't onboard." He reported.

Kirk assessed his crew. "Ok, we are going to split up and search the ship. We need to try and reestablish power. Bones, why don't you take Patrick down to Engineering?" He then looked at Reeka. "Lieutenant?"

"Maikes, sir." Reeka spoke up.

"Right, you and Chekov go to search the shuttle bays. We need to know how they left the ship." He then turned to the two crewmen in red shirts. Cora noticed that it was Wolfe and his friend from the bar. "I need you to start searching each deck for anything. Sulu, you are with me. Now let's all remember to stay in communication." The group disbanded and headed toward their destinations.

Reeka and Chekov made their way to the main shuttle bay. The doors opened and to their surprise, all the shuttles were accounted for. "How did they get off the ship?" Chekov asked.

"I don't know." Reeka started to scan the area. "I'm getting some unusual readings. I am not sure what to make of it."

"What kind of readings?" Chekov asked while opening up the shuttles to inspect them.

"An unusual amount of tachyon emissions." Reeka reported. Chekov went to her and reviewed the results. "Is it possible there was a cloaked shuttle? That could explain the tachyon readings and the missing crew."

Chekov was still curious. "It is a possible hypothesis; however, these readings are in small quantities. Too small to be a craft, at least none that I have seen before. Let's keep searching."

* * *

Cora and McCoy walked into Engineering. "Here we are, Doc."

"Think you can restore main power?" McCoy asked.

"I'll try." Cora started to investigate. "The emergency system is still operational, which is a good sign. However, I am not seeing why the other systems aren't working. Everything is connected. The dilithium chamber is full. It doesn't make any sense."

McCoy started to scan around the room. "I am getting intermittent life signs."

"What do you mean?" Cora asked.

"Well, one second I show that there is life, the next... Nothing. Either my tricorder is on the fritz or something else is going on that I can't explain. And I don't know about you, but I don't like having too many unanswered questions to this mystery."

"Me neither." Cora looked all around the abandoned room. "I don't like this eerie feeling. It's like we are being watched."


	10. Chapter 10

"Any luck?" Kirk asked.

"Not yet." Sulu responded as he laid flat on his back working under the panel at the main bridge. "Let me check-in with Cora." He pulled out his communicator. "Patrick, do you read me?"

"Go ahead." She responded.

"Have you been able to make any process?"

"I haven't, I'm sorry to say." She let out a sigh. "I will let you know as soon as that has changed."

"Dammit!" Kirk yelled and kicked the captain's chair.

Sulu got up as he watched him. "I don't think that is going to help."

"It made me feel better." Kirk smirked. "Besides it worked on my car once." He looked around at the bridge. "How does an entire crew disappear without a trace? There is no reason for the power loss. No damn reason for any of this."

"Come in Captain Kirk. "Chekov called over the communicator."

"Yes, Chekov."

"Sir we have reached the shuttle bays and all of them are still here and docked. We have detected no life signs, but we have picked up on a large amount of tachyon emissions."

"Tachyon emissions?" Kirk asked while looking at Sulu Who was just as confused. "Well, keep me updated." He ended the transmission.

Sulu pulled out his tricorder. "Sir, I am getting the same readings." Sulu turned around as he scanned the room. "The readings are increasing."

A seven-foot tall beastman suddenly appeared in front of Sulu. He had a long snout like a wolf and large lower canine teeth that protruded over his lips. He wore leather armor that was tied around his hair covered body.

Sulu let out a gasp of surprise. The beast swung his massive arm and knocked Sulu over the helm. He landed on the ground in a unconscious state. Kirk went to attack but was also hit and was knocked out.

* * *

Chekov and Reeka were hard at work at the transporter station. "I'm not getting any power to this thing." Reeka reported.

Chekov removed the panel and pulled out some wires. "Hand me your phaser."

"What are you doing?" She asked as she passed it to him.

"I am reformatting the phaser output to, in a sense, feed power to this system instead of using it as a disrupter." Chekov pointed the phaser to the power coils.

Reeka watched as the lights on the panel turned on. She typed quickly and was accessing the terminal information. Suddenly the lights turned off and was no longer accessible.

"That's all we will be able to do for now. The phaser needs to recharge and that will take some time." Chekov stood next to Reeka at the panel. "Were you able to get anything?"

"I was able to see that the ship's transporter wasn't used. But there were traces of a different transporter device was used. That could explain how the crew left the ship."

* * *

Cora was tinkering with the system. "Okay, I have an idea how to solve the problem." Cora stated.

"That's good news." McCoy responded.

"But it is possible that it could blow up the ship."

"That's bad news." McCoy folded his arms across his chest.

"I believe that if we can use the Enterprise to feed power to this station it might work. If it is configured incorrectly, we could be destroyed. The other problem is that we still don't know why there isn't power in the first place and we could be causing more problems in doing that."

McCoy continued to analyze the data on his tricorder. "Well I think we should get some more information before doing something we aren't sure about, yet."

"I agree."

"Wait a minute." McCoy started to reconfigure his tricorder.

"What is it?" Cora asked.

"I'm getting some weird readings that I can't make out."

"Like wh-"

Before Cora could finish her sentence, one of the same beasts materialized before their eyes. McCoy stood up to attack but he was picked up and tossed across the room as if he was weightless. The creature turned to Cora, picked her up under her chin lifting her off the ground. She grabbed his wrists trying to break free.

"Oh, a female of the species." The monster said. "You are weaklings and have no useful purpose. So, I guess I should just dispose of you right now." He slammed her body against the wall, then dropped her onto the ground. She started grasping for air and passed out. "Oh, I am not done playing with you yet, female." He reached down to pick her back up. Just then, McCoy reached for his phaser, set to kill, and fired. The monster dropped at Cora's feet.

McCoy dragged himself to Cora, who was still lying on the ground. He stopped alongside her body. Her eyes were closed and she didn't move. "Oh no." McCoy exclaimed. He checked for a pulse and felt her heartbeat. He put his ear to her lips and felt her breath on him. He cupped her face with his hands. "Cora. Cora, sweetheart. Can you hear me? Cora you need to wake up."

Cora let out a groan and her head moved. As she rotated he could see the marks on her throat from where she was held. She blinked her eyes as her vision came into focus. She smiled when she saw her doctor gazing at her. "I thought I lost you there for a second." He helped her sit up.

She let out a couple small coughs and rubbed her neck. "What is it?" Cora looked at the corpse in front of her.

"I don't know." He pulled out his communicator. "Jim." There was no answer. "Jim? Are you there? Sulu?" There was no response from either of them. "Is anyone else there? Can anyone read me?"

"I can read you doctor." Chekov responded.

"Are you guys okay? We were just attacked by some alien that appeared out of thin air. I also can't get a hold of Jim." McCoy reported.

Reeka and Chekov pulled out their phasers, on alert. "Yes we are good. Where are you? We will meet up with you."

"We are still in engineering. We should head to the bridge and find Jim and Sulu."

"We are on our way." Chekov signed off and they made their way toward the bridge.

"McCoy to Enterprise? Spock are you there?" McCoy demanded.

"We are reading you, clearly, Doctor." Spock replied.

"Do you have a fix on Kirk? I have tried reaching out to him and he won't reply."

"No, we do not trace the Captain or Mr. Sulu. What is going on?" Spock tilted his head.

"I'll tell you what's going on." McCoy snapped. "Cora and I were just attacked by some creature; we are both injured; and two of our crew-members are missing. I need you to get us out of here, now."

"Standby, Doctor." Spock stated.

McCoy turned back to Cora who was getting her color back. "They will get us out of here in a bit. So just sit tight."

Spock came over the communicator. "I have some unfortunate news, Doctor."

McCoy rolled his eyes. "Now why am I not surprised?"

"We are unable to beam you over. There is some sort of interference, some sort of shield preventing it. Mr. Scott is working on finding a solution to the problem. We need you to bare with us until we can get you back."

"Fantastic." McCoy slammed the communicator shut. "Cora, we will need to move. Whatever that thing is might have friends and coming looking for him."

Cora pulled herself up onto her feet while leaning on a panel. "You're right. We should head to the access tube. It will be the best way to get out of this area without being seen."

"Agreed." McCoy hobbled behind her. They both entered the tunnel and closed the panel behind them.


	11. Chapter 11

Sulu opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. He found himself lying on the ground and attempted to sit up. He instantly grabbed his gut in pain, with his other hand he felt the dirt beneath him. There was a small opening a couple meters high that let in a little sunlight.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cavern he was confined to, he realized that he was alone. At the far end of the sell he saw an opening big enough for him to fit into, but it was blocked by a large bolder. He reached to his waist but his phaser and communicator were missing.

He realized he had limited options. He was barely able to move, unsure of where he was, where Kirk was, or how to get out of this mess. He leaned back to try and figure out a plan but before he could, he passed out.

* * *

"Mr. Scott, please tell me you have made progress." Spock inquired.

"I wish I was able to, Commander. This shield is impenetrable. I also canne find the energy source that is supplying it." Scotty replied.

"This whole thing is one riddle after another." Spock spoke aloud. "Uhura, are you able to pick up any form of communication in the area?"

Uhura turned from her station. "No. I am also still sweeping the area searching for any of our com signals but this shield is making it difficult."

"Mr. Scott, I need the source of this shield found and we need to get our crew out of there as soon as possible."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

Cora and McCoy hobbled their way to the access tube. Cora carefully opened up the entry panel and closed it back up after them.

McCoy leaned against the side of the tunnel and grabbed his left knee.

"Is it broken?" Cora asked as she watched him.

"No, just a really bad twist." He shrugged off the pain.

"You are going to need a splint." Cora got up and started to pry thin, long panels from the walls. She came back to where he was sitting and put the pieces on either side of his leg. She started to rip the bottom hem of her uniform. Cora then tied the pieces of material around the panels. "There, that should hold, until we have a proper one for you."

McCoy stared at her, unsure of what to think. "How did you know to do that? I know that isn't part of your basic field medical training from Starfleet."

"My father is a doctor. He worked a lot; I paid attention." She said very nonchalantly.

"How did you know about those panels? You didn't even think about it." McCoy was very curious about her and what mysteries she held.

Cora continued to act casually about the subject. "I guess you don't work on a ship without learning a few tricks."

"So why go into engineering? You didn't want to follow after your father? You seem to have picked up a lot from him."

"I thought about becoming a doctor, but as much as I understand medicine, I don't really enjoy it." She started. "I remember being a kid and taking apart my first communicator and put it back together, just to see how it worked. That is what interested me. I knew this is the field I wanted to work it and I knew Starfleet was the best option."

"You are remaining very calm throughout all of this. Are you used to being cool under pressure?"

"I guess you can say that. My father always said that I was very level headed."

"What does your mom say?" He asked.

"She passed away when I was young."

"I am sorry to hear that." He said sincerely.

"It's okay." She quickly looked around, avoiding the subject. "We should contact Reeka and Chekov and let them know that we are making our way to the bridge."

McCoy nodded in agreement.

Cora pulled out her communicator but it wasn't working. "Try yours."

He tried his with the same results. "Damn, they must have cut off our communication, along with the transporters."

"I can try and see what I can do to fix it." Cora suggested.

"Let Mr. Scott worry about that, we need to keep moving."

Cora agreed. "There will be a lot of crawling, will your knee be okay?"

"I've been through worse, I'll be fine." Cora took the lead and started her way down the small shaft. "Besides, I have a good view." He whispered to himself.

* * *

Chekov and Reeka made their way towards the bridge and passed through engineering. "Look!" Reeka exclaimed as she pointed to the dead beast that laid on the ground. "That must have been what attacked Cora and Dr. McCoy.

Chekov inspected the leather-like armor that was tied securely to alien's body. The chest plate had some flashing lights on a control panel. He held up his tricorder to get a reading. "I think I figured out the answer to the tachyon emissions. It looks as though they have their own personal cloaking devices. There could be more of them on the ship, but cloaked. We cannot see them."

"Come on, we have to keep moving." Reeka pulled on Chekov's shirt, encouraging him to get up.

He got up from his knee and the two of them rushed down the corridor. They entered an area where the lights were flickering and dark. Chekov was able to make out blaster burns along the wall. They continued with their quick pace but then hit the floor as they tripped over something.

Reeka looked back and let out a scream as she stared into the doll-like eyes of her comrade in red.

"His neck was broken." Chekov reported. He looked around but couldn't see the other crewman. "Let's keep moving."

* * *

Sulu regained consciousness and realized he was still enclosed in the underground cave. He decided to push himself to try and see out of the opening where the light was coming in. He picked himself up and steadily moved toward the light.

Suddenly, the large boulder that was used as a door started to move. He took a step back, standing ready. One of the creatures that attacked him stood in the entryway. He then threw in a body and closed the passage way. Sulu dropped to his knees and could see Kirk lying on the ground.

Kirk started to moan as he picked himself up. "Sulu. Boy, am I glad to see you. Are you alright?" He coughed and looked around the enclosed surroundings.

"Other than my stomach, I am doing fine." He grabbed his belly. "Are you ok? Where were you? Do you know what they want?"

"They just kept asking me how many people we had. That's all they wanted to know. It was all about the numbers." Kirk pointed to the opening, where the light was coming in

"I was just about to try and reach it to figure out what we can see; find out where we are." Sulu said. "Did you see anything before they brought you here?"

"No, I believe we are underground, in some sort of cave village. I was just in a room like this and they brought me down a tunnel to you. I couldn't make out an exit."

"Okay, let's see what's out there." Kirk forced himself up. Kirk leaned against the wall under the small opening. Sulu placed his foot on his knee and lifted himself up. "Well, what do you see?"

"Oh my god." Sulu exclaimed.


	12. Chapter 12

Kirk helped to lower Sulu down. "What? What did you see?" he asked anxiously wanting to know what he was able to see through that small hole in their cell.

Sulu bent over holding onto his knees breathing deeply. "It's the crew from the McNair. I believe they are being used for slave labor."

Kirk crossed his arms across his chest. "Okay, I have a plan. We're going to get out her here, find their control room and locate the shield generator, destroy that, contact the Enterprise and get the hell out of here."

"Great plan." Sulu started. "How do you propose we do all of that?"

Kirk moved his hands onto his hips as he mulled over it. "I haven't thought that far yet."

* * *

Cora forced open the door to the next set of access tunnels. "Okay, when we get to the end of this section we will take a break."

"Good, if you didn't say something, I would have." McCoy dragged himself the last few meters to their stopping point. "I hope we're almost there because I am not sure how much more crawling I can do."

"You don't need to worry; we're done with that." Cora leaned back against the wall and waived off crawling any further.

"How come I feel a 'but' coming on?" His eyebrow raised.

"Well, next we need to climb all the way up to Deck A." Cora regrettably informed the doctor.

"Figures." He rolled his eyes.

"I just love your cheery disposition!" She smirked crossing her arms across her chest.

"Are you enjoying this?" He leaned forward on his good knee. "Traveling through space is dangerous! It's not like you can just pull over on the side of the road if you get a flat tire. When something goes wrong all hell could break loose."

Cora's eyes shot open wide. "I know exactly what can result when the worst happens. About the dangers, the victims, the deaths, their families, everyone is affected. No one thinks it will happen to them… until one day it does." Cora turned to look at the closed door, away from McCoy, not wanting to meet his eye.

McCoy tilted his head as he studied her. "Who was it?" He asked.

"Who was what?"

"You obviously know someone who went through something horrible." He said sympathetically.

Cora was hesitant to share as she let out a sigh. "My father served on the Keller."

"Damn." McCoy shook his head. "So, he was one of the lucky few who made it to one of the transports?"

Cora silently nodded but still wouldn't look at him.

McCoy's heart sank. "Please don't tell me that he was on the shuttle that crashed."

Cora nodded again then turned to him. "Yes, he was on that planet for three years before they were rescued. Twenty-three people survived that crash, and Starfleet didn't even know they were there. They were all presumed dead. My father was the highest ranking officer as well as the only medical staff."

"I do not envy that burden." McCoy was then distracted by the access door's control panel that suddenly illuminated. "Look!"

"Huh." Cora remarked as she moved toward it. The lights in the tunnel started to flicker on and off; followed by a crackling noise that echoed all around them. Cora's eyes darted from one end of the camber to another trying to figure out what was going on. The noise turned into loud popping sound as sparks shot out of the control panel.

McCoy grabbed her arm pulling her to lie down, both using their forearms to protect their faces unit the sparks stopped and the lights went off. "What the hell just happened?"

"I'm not sure." Cora slowly crawled towards the panel then lightly tapped the sides a couple of times.

"Be careful." He urged.

Cora removed the cover cautiously and held the frayed wires and broken chips in her fingertips. She used her tricorder to scan the panel. "Chronitons? That's weird." She started to scroll through the information but then looked to see that the room was spinning and felt lightheaded. Cora then noticed that the doctor was letting out a yawn. "Come on! We need to get out of here!" She insisted and worked on prying the access door open.

"What's going on?" McCoy asked as he helped her.

"The life support systems in here are failing." She popped her head out from the tube to see an attached ladder heading up or down to the other decks. She reached across the opening and grabbed onto the rung of the ladder and started climbing upwards.

McCoy closed the door and then quickly followed her. They moved up to the next deck, opened the hatchway and crawled in. He pulled out his tricorder. "The oxygen levels are normal here. I always knew going into space would kill me one day."

Cora removed the cover to the panel similar to the one that had issues on the deck below. She used her tricorder and compared them to the last readings. "I think I know what's going on."

"You mean with the power loss?" McCoy questioned.

"Yes. I think there are Latkins onboard. It all makes sense with the power loss and the chroniton emissions. I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner."

"Wait, hold on a second." He held his hand up in front of her. "Could you please explain it as if I had no idea of what you're talking about? Because I don't."

"They are a type of rodent that feeds off of power sources."

"We haven't detected any rodents."

Cora shook her head. "They are from the Unroth System where Romulans did a lot of their weapons and technology testing. Most of the tests were with cloaking. They found that after a while a lot of the indigenous life on the planet were exposed to those emissions and absorbed them. Plant life, animals, and even Romulans themselves were being cloaked."

"So there might be cloaked Romulans walking around?"

"I don't think so, but I am fairly certain that the Latkins are responsible for the power loss. If they are here and cloaked, they would be able to slowly diminish the power on the ship and go unnoticed. It's like a ticking time-bomb."

"Do you think they are on the Enterprise as well?" McCoy asked.

Cora took a moment to think about it. "That would explain it. There is probably a trap set in this area to immobilize ships. Like a modern day booby-trap."

"For what purpose? The ship is still here."

"But all of the crew is gone. Come on, we need to get to the bridge and try and make contact with the Enterprise."


	13. Chapter 13

Sulu leaned his back against the wall of their prison cell with his arms crossed in front of him. He watched his captain gnaw the tip of his thumb while pacing back and forth. "So, how's that plan coming along?"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." Kirk responded with a frustrated tone.

"Well, think faster, you are kicking up so much dirt, its making it difficult to breathe." Sulu tried to swat away the dust storm that was brewing.

Kirk decided to take a cue from Sulu and leaned against the rock wall directly below the small opening to freedom. "I am just missing a piece to the puzzle. If only we had a weapon."

"Yeah, well unfortunately, even if we were able to get our hands on something, I doubt it would be strong enough to take down those behemoths. We need to able to get a clue into their weakness."

"I am not sure how that would happen. It isn't like the answer to our problems is going to fall into our laps." Kirk shook his head.

Just then a phaser-type device was tossed through the narrow opening and landed on the ground in front of Kirk's feet. The two officers looked up to the opening to see nothing.

"Hello?" Kirk called out. "Is someone there?"

"Hush, someone will hear you." A voice whispered back.

Kirk and Sulu stared at that opening waiting for the one talking to them to show himself. When suddenly it did. He was the same race of the creature that attacked them, however he appeared to be a lot older. His face was haggard with gray hair and an aged face.

"Use that as a weapon," the grizzled beast started. "It is a tool used to extract the precious mineral from the rocks."

"Why are you helping us?" Sulu asked.

"We were once a noble and proud race. Then our government shifted as the selfish came into power. Our culture turned into greed and destroying others. It needs to stop." He scooched in closer toward them. "Now, listen, we don't have much time. The shield generators are laid out in a grid. You need to locate one and destroy it. You will then have one minute before another one takes over. Our vests have communicators on them, use it and get the hell out of here."

"What's your name?" Kirk asked.

"I am called Gilbeth."

"I am Kirk, and this is Sulu."

Sulu studied the tool they were given. "How effective will this be?"

"You should have no problem taking down your target. However, if it should fail, our weakness is in our lower back. A good hit will cause immense pain."

"You should come with us." Kirk offered.

"I can't." Gilbeth responded. "However, I need you to do one thing for me."

"What?" Kirk asked.

"Succeed where others have failed." Gilbeth uttered those words then disappeared.

Sulu approached Kirk. "You know this could be a trap."

"I know." Kirk nodded. "It might just be a risk we have to take."

* * *

Cora pushed open the access tunnel door and crawled out onto the empty corridor. She turned back and helped Dr. McCoy pull himself out. "How is your leg doing?"

He nodded. "It will be okay. Come on, we need to keep moving." McCoy grabbed her hand and they started toward the bridge. They rushed while remaining stealth and vigilant.

"Don't Move!" A voice called out and they stared at a phaser pointed at them.

McCoy and Cora threw their hands up. They both noticed that there was a frantic crewman pointing his weapon at them.

"Hold on there, son." McCoy tried to reason with him.

The man in the red shirt moved the phaser back and forth between the two officers. "It killed Harold. I… I couldn't do anything about it." He was shaking and scared.

Cora recognized the panic-stricken man standing before them. "Mr. Wolfe?" He turned to her. "Do you remember me?" She asked.

McCoy placed his hand over the phaser and slowly lowered it. "When was the last time you saw one of those creatures?"

"It's been a while." Wolfe started to return to his senses.

"Good. We are heading to the bridge and you are coming with us. Do you think you can handle that?" McCoy asked. Wolfe nodded. "Good, let's go." McCoy took the lead heading directly to the bridge.

The trio entered the main bridge to see Chekov and Reeka waiting for them. Reeka ran over to her friend and gave her a hug.

"Are you both okay?" Cora asked.

Reeka and Chekov looked to each other then both nodded. The team stood around in a circle.

"So, what do we do now?" Wolfe looked to McCoy.

"Why are you asking me?" McCoy was taken aback.

Cora placed her hands on her hips. "Because you are the highest ranking officer."

McCoy turned around looking out the main viewer back at his ship. "Well, that's just great."

* * *

Spock sat in the captain's chair on the bridge of the Enterprise. He pressed the communicator button on the chair. "Mr. Scott, have you been able to make any progress?"

"Yes and no. I wasn't able to get a lock on any of them, however I do have a tracer set up to look for any of their signals. I am still working on it." Scotty responded.

"Where are we at with the grid search?" Spock asked the helmsman.

"Nothing coming up yet, sir."

Uhura swiveled around in her chair. "Commander, I think I found something."

Spock got up and went to her station. "What is it?"

"Well it is more like _what isn't it_?" She corrected.

"I don't understand." He stared down at her.

"I can usually pick up certain signals and frequencies when we are around planets. I am hearing aspects of those, but I am not getting anything else that would normally correspond with that. I am not getting any type of communication at all. It is almost as if everything has been blocked." Uhura appeared confused.

"This riddle continues to become more convoluted." He took a step toward the main viewer to see the disabled McNair stuck in space. "And we are running out of time to solve it."


	14. Chapter 14

Kirk and Sulu laid in wait for their cell door to open, when it suddenly did. Sulu lammed the guard in the lower back, which caused him to collapse in front of them. He worked to remove the communicator from the guard's chest as Kirk looked out in the hallway.

"Come on, we don't have much time," Kirk called out.

"Well, at least we know that he was right about the weak spot in their lower back," Sulu followed.

Kirk rushed through the maze of tunnels as he searched for the nearest shield generator before someone would discover them. "Here, I think this is it." Kirk stopped and studied the machinery in front of them. "Do you think you can get that communicator to work?"

"There's only one way to find out," Sulu examined the foreign system.

They moved toward the archway where Kirk aimed the tool at the generator and fired.

"Here goes nothing," Sulu remarked as he activated the communicator.

"Enterprise, do you read us?" Kirk asked with anticipation.

"We read you loud and clear," Spock responded calmly.

"Great! Get us out of here, now!" Kirk demanded.

"We are attempting to, however we have been having intermittent issues with the power—" Spock was cut off.

Their bodies separated into a million pieces just as the guards approached. Kirk materialized on the transporter platform and gave a satisfying grin. He turned to his side and noticed that he was alone. "Where the hell is Sulu?"

* * *

The team on the McNair gathered around Cora as she explained what she believed the reason was for the power loss.

Chekov nodded, "so, as the animals fed on the power supply… that disrupted the molecular structure producing a chroniton field."

"Precisely," Cora agreed.

"What do we do about it?" McCoy asked.

"Anyon emissions would do the trick, but it would have to be a high-level beam to dephase the creatures so we can destroy them and restore the power," Cora explained.

"The Enterprise was experiencing power loss, too. We need to tell them before it's too late," Reeka spoke up.

"How do we do that?" Wolfe asked.

"We could space-jump," Chekov suggested.

McCoy furrowed his eyebrows, "I would prefer a method that isn't so crazy."

"What about a shuttle craft?" Reeka suggested.

"How would we manage that with the power loss?" McCoy questioned.

"When we inspected the shuttle bay, we noticed that the shuttles still had power," Chekov added.

"Well, of course not, they were saving those for desert." McCoy snarked.

"I hate to put a damper on a good idea," Reeka started, "but we still don't have power to run the controls to open the bay door."

"Not if we are able repower the stations," Cora proposed.

"How do we do that?" Wolfe asked.

"We can reprogram the phasers to feed power to the panels," Chekov explained.

"That will take a lot of phasers," Cora stated.

"Then we should get to work," McCoy approved.

"Then it looks like you will be in need of a pilot," Sulu stood in the doorway to everyone's amazement.

* * *

The crew had entered the shuttle bay to work out the logistics of the operation.

Sulu exited the shuttle, "everything in here is working properly. So, as long as we are able to transfer power to those stations, then we should be fine." He winced and grabbed a hold of his abdomen.

McCoy took him aside, "I don't like the way you are clutching your gut."

"I'm fine, I just had the wind knocked out of me," Sulu waived him off.

"Bull," the doctor called him out. "When we get you to the Enterprise, I am going to do a full work-up on you. There might be some internal bleeding."

Sulu nodded.

"If we are able to get the shuttle out of here, how do we combat these invisible creatures before they overrun everything?" McCoy asked.

"We would need to modify an anyon emitter of at least twenty-five thousand particles per second. That should be able to expose the creatures. A simple phaser would be able to kill them. Then we can work on the repairs," Cora explained.

Reeka and Wolfe carried crates of phasers to the group. "These were all of them that we could find," Reeka announced.

"That should be enough," Cora looked to Chekov who agreed.

"How will this work?" McCoy started, "you will power up the controls enough to set it on auto then jump on the shuttle?"

Cora scrunched her face, "not exactly."

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like this," McCoy sneered.

Sulu stood between them, "oh, I know that look." He patted McCoy on the back, "you aren't going to like it."

"I will have to stay here to manually feed power into the control panel."

"No," McCoy shook his head.

"Someone has to stay in order to get the rest back safely," Cora stated.

"Okay, fine. I will do it," McCoy countered.

"You wouldn't be able to make the necessary adjustments to any of the possible variables that might occur," she turned to look at her friend. "Besides, Sulu is hurt and will need _your_ expertise."

Mr. Wolfe stepped forward, "I will stay and assist the lieutenant."

McCoy stood a breath away from Cora, "as soon as we are able to restore power and get communications up, we are coming to get you."

"You better," she smirked.

McCoy turned to the rest of the group, "let's get on board."

Sulu handed Cora his phaser, "are you sure about this?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Just make sure you get everyone back safely." Cora headed out to the corridor to access the power supply. This would allow her to concentrate the power to a specific system and still be able to open and close the door. Wolfe stayed on the other side of the bay to ensure that the access doors stayed closed.

McCoy stood in the shuttle and watched as everyone strapped themselves in. He nodded to himself then approached Sulu who was at the helm next to Chekov. "Mr. Sulu, when you get back to the Enterprise, I need you to go straight to the medical bay, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

"What are you doing?" Sulu questioned.

"Something stupid." McCoy stepped off the shuttle.

Cora was quick at work and fully resorted power to the proper controls and then opened the shuttle bay door. Once she saw the craft clear the bay, she worked to close the door.

Once her job was complete, she let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me, Mr. Wolfe."

"At least you won't be alone," McCoy called out as he made his way toward her.

"Doctor, what are you doing here? Where's Mr. Wolfe?" Cora was confused.

"About half way to the Enterprise right about now," he gazed at her.


	15. Chapter 15

Captain Kirk sat in the medical bay as he explained what he and Sulu experienced on the planet to Spock. "Look, I'm fine!" Kirk snapped at the nurse then jumped off the table. "Any trace of Sulu yet?"

"Nothing yet, captain, however Lieutenant Uhura continues to scan the area for him as well as the other crewmembers," Spock informed as he followed Kirk out of medical.

"Do we have any plans to get the crew from the McNair?"

"Mr. Scott says that he would be able to feed power to the ship to restore power, however, since we aren't aware of why the ship has lost power, and we are now experiencing a similar issue, I do not feel that is a wise decision at this time."

Kirk nodded, "Agreed."

The two officers entered the bridge and both stared out to the stalled McNair across from them.

"What is that?" Uhura pointed out toward the ship.

"That is a shuttle craft," Spock informed.

"Security, report to shuttle bay two," Kirk called out over the communicator.

"Aye, sir."

"Spock, you're with me," Kirk announced as they headed toward the shuttle bay.

"Captain, it is possible that this may be a trap," Spock spoke out.

"I know that. That's why I called for security." They stood silent for a moment in the turbo lift. "I just know that with our people back we will have a better chance of rescuing the McNair crew from that planet. Even if that means we have to sacrifice their ship to save their lives."

They arrived at the shuttle bay just as the doors were opening. "Scotty?" Kirk questioned.

"I wanted to speak to Lt. Patrick to see if she can fill me in on what is going on with that bloody ship," Scotty showed his concern.

There was tension in the air. Being prepared for anything, unsure of who was on that shuttle and what condition they would be in. With no contact with the away team for hours, they hoped their friends were returning.

With the docking clamps in place, the shuttle door opened. Security readied their phasers as Mr. Wolfe appeared in the doorway. The Enterprise crew showed relief as he took a step off, he was soon followed by Reeka. Chekov came forward as he helped to support Sulu.

Kirk beamed with relief, "Sulu! You are a sight for sore eyes."

"Dr. McCoy said he needed to go to the med bay as soon as we arrived," Chekov informed.

"Wait," Kirk looked to the shuttle to see that no one else was coming off, "where's Bones?"

"And Lt. Patrick." Scotty chimed in.

* * *

"You are supposed to be on that shuttle!" Cora blurted.

"I know," McCoy took a few steps closer to her.

"Why aren't you?"

"I figured we've been through this much already, we might as well see it through," McCoy was by her side.

They both looked around when a loud rumble noise echoed.

"I don't like the sound of that," Bones uttered.

"It's the sound of the haul. You just never noticed it with all the other ambient noises of the ship going on at once," Cora explained.

"Well, it sounded ominous and disturbing." He raised an eyebrow. "We should get moving," he urged.

* * *

 _Captain's log, supplemental: We have successfully flooded the Enterprise with anyon emissions revealing several of the Latkin rodents on board eating at the ship's power supply. We believe that we have eliminated all of them. Mr. Scott and his team have been working tirelessly on the repairs. Unfortunately, we are unable to use the anyon emissions on the McNair until our systems are back up and running at full capacity._

 _Our communication continues to be blocked from the cloaked planet, to which we are still trying to figure out a rescue plan for the crew of the McNair. Two of my crewmembers are stuck on that deserted ship and we are unaware of their condition. I can only hope we can get them back soon._

* * *

Cora followed after McCoy with phasers in hand. "How's your knee doing, Doc?"

"It's not so bad. Nothing that a good shot of whisky couldn't fix," he spouted.

"I never could acquire a taste for that. I've always preferred a good beer," she responded as they took a break.

McCoy chuckled to himself as he lightly shook his head.

"What's so funny?" Cora was suspicious.

"I was remembering how you were drinking a beer the night you tossed Wolfe over you," he remarked as he continued to chuckle. "The shocked look on his face."

Cora's cheeks turned pink feeling a bit embarrassed at the situation. "When I saw you and the captain coming toward me, I thought I was going to get kicked off the ship."

"Why would you think that?"

"For participating in a brawl. I was the senior officer, I should have handled things more… diplomatically," Cora confessed.

"You definitely got the point across," McCoy smirked. He then adjusted when he noticed Cora wasn't amused. "You shouldn't feel bad. I was watching and he was the one that started it, and if you didn't chuck him, I was going to."

They stared at each other for a moment.

He gulped, "Cora, I—"

Suddenly they were startled by several loud clamors.

"More haul noises?" McCoy asked sarcastically.

"No, it sounds like someone else is on the ship, and I doubt they're friendly." She grabbed his hand, "come on."

They rushed through the abandoned ship searching for a place to go. "Over here," Cora called out as she pried off the access panel.

"Another tunnel?" Bones asked.

"Not exactly." Cora revealed a modest storage compartment.

"Quick, get in," McCoy encouraged.

Cora pulled her knees in tightly to her chest. "Come on, your turn."

McCoy shook his head. "There isn't enough room for both of us in there."

"Yes, there is, now hurry," she insisted.

They heard sound of guards speaking in the distance and getting closer.

McCoy picked up the panel door and rushed to put it into place over Cora's protests.

"Alright, Leonard, you can figure this out." He impatiently glanced around then darted to the other side of the corridor where he ran into two of the beasts standing in front of him.

McCoy pulled out his phaser and started blasting. He shot down the two guards then ran back toward the other end where more appeared. He stood blasting as a brute approached from behind and knocked him across the head.


	16. Chapter 16

McCoy blinked trying to get his vision into focus as he regained consciousness. His arms were tied up above his head with his feet barely touching the floor beneath him. He realized that he was still on the McNair and not on the planet that Sulu had told them about.

One of the beasts approached Bones as he struggled to get free. "I am Tynan and you are now on _my_ ship. Tell me, why did your comrades abandon you?"

"I guess it wasn't true love after all," he snarked. McCoy was jabbed in the gut leaving him struggling for breath as his feet grazed the floor.

"How many crewmembers on your starship?" He asked.

Bones looked forward, not meeting his eye, "Leonard McCoy, Lt. Commander—" He was struck again.

Tynan stood in front of the doctor and clutched his face as if he were examining it.

McCoy pulled away, "You really need to see someone about that breath of yours. It could knock a buzzard off a gut wagon."

Tynan picked up a quarterstaff and smacked it against his bad knee forcing him to yell out in pain.

"Where is the female that was with you?" He growled.

"What female? I'm alone," Bones groaned.

A guard approached Tynan and McCoy. "We are still picking up the female on our sensors, but we can't locate her yet."

"Keep searching!" He ordered then looked back to see McCoy was feigning his composure. "It amazes me that your race will go into combat with their females. They are weak. The male feels a need to protect the female which shows that _they_ are weak."

"What you perceive as weakness is our strength."

"I think we found her!" The guard called out in front of the panel Cora was tucked into.

McCoy held his breath.

Tynan noticed his reaction, "You aren't as strong as you think you are. Once we capture her you will know what fear is."

"Fear is not in my vocabulary," McCoy stared him down.

"But it is in your eyes," Tynan sneered.

McCoy watched as they approached the storage compartment and worked to jimmy open the panel. He anxiously watched as the door opened but all of their backs were toward him. They then dispersed empty handed.

Tynan looked inside the cramped space then turned around with a blazing anger. "Find the female!" He demanded.

McCoy couldn't understand what happened. He wondered where she could be. "I hope you found a good place to hide," he said to himself.

* * *

After Cora was shut into the storage locker she reached over her head and unlocked the panel that opened up to an access tunnel and pulled herself up into it.

Cora crawled through the shaft as quietly as possible. She was able to hear voices but unable to make out the conversation. They had McCoy and she was outnumbered. Cora approached a fork in the tunnel and leaned against the wall contemplating what she should do.

"I can't do this," she whispered to herself. "It's only a matter of time before the find me. If only I had some help. I need to figure out a way to get a message to the Enterprise." After some more contemplation she had a plan but needed some equipment if it was going to work.

* * *

Kirk fidgeted in his captain's chair before he pressed the communicator. "Mr. Scott. Do you have an update on how we can get the rest of the crew back on board?"

"I'm working on a few things, captain. I will let you know as soon as I have a definitive answer for you," Scotty replied.

Chekov noticed a flash on the McNair then took notice again. He turned around to Kirk. "Sir, it appears that there is some sort of beacon coming from the other ship."

All of the crew studied the now rhythmic lights.

"That looks like Morse code," Uhura spoke out.

"Do you understand it?" Kirk anxiously asked.

"No, only emergency messages. That one is an S.O.S."

"Great," Kirk rolled his eyes. "Where are we going to find someone who knows Morse code?"

Sulu spun around in his chair, "I believe Mr. Scott does."

"You sure about that?" Kirk probed.

"Yes, I actually saw him trying to pick up a girl from Andoris 5 with it once," Sulu reluctantly explained.

Kirk raised his eyebrow as he shared a look with Spock, "get him up here."

Moments later, Scotty stepped onto the bridge. "How can I be of assistance?"

Jim leaped out of his chair. "Do you know Morse code?"

"Aye. Why would—" He looked out to the adjacent ship and observed the flashing light. "Aww, clever girl." He remarked.

"Are you referring to Lt. Patrick?" Spock asked.

"Aye. She and I had a conversation about Morse code together. She knew I would be able to communicate with her," he explained.

"Then do it." Kirk stood with his hands on his hips.

Scotty gently inched Chekov away from his panel. "Oh, if you don't mind." He worked on sending a reply message using the navigation station.

"Why Morse code?" Chekov asked.

"There's something about being fluent in a foreign language, laddy. The ladies love it," he shared his words of wisdom. "And there we go... She's responding."

The crew watched and waited as Scotty stared at the blinking light for what seemed like an eternity.

"Well?" Kirk impatiently asked.

Scotty continued to watch the light as he started to fill them in. "The aliens are on board. McCoy has been captured."

"Anything else?"

Scotty held up his hand waiting for the complete message to come through. "Oh, she's daft." He typed out a reply message then said aloud, "that won't work," as he shook his head.

"What? What won't work?" Kirk was more frustrated being left out of the conversation.

"She's proposing an idea that can be very dangerous," Scotty said.

Sulu faced Scotty, "I don't think Cora would suggest something if she didn't think that it was the best solution."

Scotty nodded, "If I was in her place, I would probably suggest the same thing."

Kirk thought for a moment, "Okay, fill me in."


	17. Chapter 17

"Scotty, explain this to me," Kirk started. "We are going to do a power transfer to the McNair and then beam over a team to take back the ship and rescue Lt. Patrick and McCoy, right?"

"That's right sir," Scotty agreed.

"Isn't that what you told us not to do in the first place?" Kirk questioned.

"Yes, however we know what has caused the power loss and it is necessary now."

"But?" Kirk asked, he knew there would be a downside.

"If we transfer too much power, then we will lose the element of surprise and if we don't transfer enough, then we could lose some of the crew as they beam over if there isn't a proper receiving pattern. Don't worry, Jim, I am confident that this will work." Scotty tried to reassure his captain.

"Make sure that it does," Kirk gave him a pat on the back.

Back on the McNair, Cora opened a hatch door below her and dropped down into the empty corridor. She quickly looked around and when she knew that she was alone she rushed to Engineering.

Scotty approached Kirk who was standing by. "It's time to start the transfer."

Kirk nodded, "and Lt. Patrick should be there by now, right?"

"We could only hope. But she said to give her fifteen minutes… it's time," Scotty recounted.

"Proceed."

Scotty looked over to Lt. Ka, "go ahead, nice and easy."

As they started the power transfer, Cora was making sure to reroute the incoming power to the transporters. She didn't want to alert those on board of their plan. Once the systems were properly adjusted, she headed to the transporter room to work on the receiving line as the Enterprise was feeding power to the McNair.

* * *

McCoy's wrists were swollen and bloody from hanging for so long. He knew his body was going into shock from the pain as he drifted in and out of consciousness. He was then abruptly awoken by yet another jab to his gut.

He growled while trying to keep his agony in check.

Tynan turned his head to be eye to eye with the doctor. "Have you changed your mind about giving me the information that I want to know?"

"I can't tell you what I don't know," he sassed.

"Before this day is over, you will tell me. I can promise you that." Tynan smacked him across the face.

They both noticed that the lights brightened then quickly faded, and some of the ship's control panels turned on but then back off again. Tynan looked to his men, "Go, find out what is going on." The men turned around to exit the bridge. "And find that female!"

McCoy struggled to get his wrists free but knew it was a hopeless endeavor. He wanted to find Cora before they did. He could only hope that she had hidden herself away somewhere safe and was not trying to do anything foolish

* * *

The Enterprise had completed the power transfer and the team moved to the transporter room. Chekov sat at the control panel while his senior officers gathered behind him. "Lt. Patrick has made it to the transporter on the McNair and is all ready on the receiving end," Chekov reported.

Kirk stepped forward, "Good, I should get over there."

"Captain, I must advise against it," Spock spoke out.

"I appreciate your concern Spock, but I—"

"I agree," Scotty interrupted. "I should go over there, you will need someone to help work the transporter in case of any malfunction or if Cora has been injured in anyway."

With his hands on his hips, Kirk conceded, "you're right."

"No, sir," Chekov stood up, "I will go. I can assist with the transporter and I am also familiar with the ship to be able to help with the rescue of Dr. McCoy."

"Are you sure about this, Mr. Chekov?" Kirk asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, you will go over first. If everything is working correctly on both ends, then we will send over the rest of the team."

"Good luck, laddie," Scotty wished as he took his place at the panel and Chekov stepped onto the platform.

Cora watched as the transporter panel in front of her lit up at full power and a few minutes later Chekov materialized right before her.

Cora let out a sigh of relief. "It is so good to see you." She approached him as he stepped down to her and they shared an embrace.

"Are you alright?" He looked her up and down.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's the doc that we should be worried about."

He went to the panel and began tinkering away. "I just need to make a few adjustments and we will be able to go rescue him."

They abruptly fell silent when they heard the guards moving closer to their location.

"We should hide," Chekov suggested.

"No, we can't risk them figuring out that we have power in here. I'm going to run out there and lead them away."

"No, I'll do it." He grabbed ahold of her arm to stop her.

"They are already looking for me. Trust me, this is what I need to do. It's more important to get the rest of the team over here. I will be fine."

Chekov nodded then hid himself in case they entered the room. Cora stepped out and ran down the hallway; the guards gave chase and ignored the transporter room. She attempted to stay ahead of them as she rushed through the ship. She looked behind her and saw that they were unable to keep up. She then turned the corner and was knocked out after Tynan hit her with his quarterstaff.

* * *

McCoy opened his eyes when he heard the guards coming back. He then noticed that Tynan was dragging something behind him. He was spearheaded towards McCoy with his prize in tow. Cora was being pulled by her wrists; they were bound together and Tynan clutched onto the rope with pride.

McCoy's blood was boiling. At that point he didn't know if she was alive or dead. She didn't resist, she just laid there.

Tynan dropped the rope at McCoy's feet and then stood before him. "She's alive but she won't be for long if you don't tell me what I want to hear."

The doctor stood his ground, he wouldn't even offer a witty reply. He was more concerned about Cora.

Tynan took a step back before he kicked her in the ribs and she let out a yelp. He then stepped over her to return to his men while leaving a guard watching them.

"Are you okay?" After no answer, he pleaded with her again, "Damnit Cora, answer me!"

Cora let out a cough and she looked up at him from the floor. "I'm just peachy."

"What the hell is going on?" He demanded.

"I came here to rescue you," she chuckled at herself.

"Great, you've gone delirious," he rolled his eyes.

The guard focused on Cora as she snickered on the floor.

"Don't worry, doc, I've been keeping myself occupied. I was reading the Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov." She announced as she slurred her words. "I felt so _connected_ to the author, almost as if he was in the same room with me." She then looked directly into McCoy's eyes and he understood.


	18. Chapter 18

Cora was on the floor and convulsed into snorting laughter while lying at McCoy's feet. He shook his head in aggravation, he knew she was playing a dangerous game. Her hands were bound together and she showed signs of being beaten before she was dragged out to him.

McCoy looked up again to his swollen and raw wrists from being strung up from the ceiling. He tried for the umpteenth time to wriggle out of his bindings but to no avail. He glanced back down to Cora who was red in the face from her constant giggles. "Here we are in an impossible situation and you are snickering away like a hyena."

Tynan stormed past his goons to investigate Cora's incessant laughter. He stood over her and watched her chortle to herself. His eyes furrowed as he became outraged over her childish behavior. "Stand up," he demanded.

Cora stopped laughing and looked up at him after a few moments she burst out with an obnoxious chortle. Her face turned red and eyes were watering as she flopped around on the ground.

"What is wrong with you?" McCoy called out down to her. He was becoming concerned that this was no longer an act and that there could actually be something serious happening with her.

"I said stand up!" Tynan pulled out his quarterstaff.

"Cora!" McCoy shouted

She saw the quarterstaff held out in front of her and she tried to hold in her snickers. "Wow, looks like you're trying to compensate for something with that," she mocked.

Tynan reached down and grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her up from the ground. "Stop laughing," he glared at her.

"Oh no, I'm in big trouble this time," She snarked.

Tynan eyes blazed, he let out a snarl then threw her over the railing. Cora crashed onto the floor and braced herself as well as she could with her wrists still bound together.

McCoy watched with a mixture of emotions, primarily of concern but also disapproval of her stupidity.

Cora forced a burst of laughter while trying to hide her pain. "And what were you trying to do, dance with me?"

Tynan swiftly jumped over the banister and landed directly in front of her. He pulled out his quarterstaff and swung it back behind him, before he was able to strike her, the sound of phaser fire echoed down the hall. He stopped and looked to his lieutenant. "Vibok, we need to go. Get him!"

Chekov led the boarding party with phasers blasting. He saw his fellow crewmembers and started towards them.

Tynan grabbed Cora and joined his man, after pressing a button on his vest, the four dematerialized while the rest of his goons were being held off by Starfleet.

Chekov shot one man, then smacked another with his elbow as he charged towards Cora and the doctor. He made it to where they were standing but it was too late. He turned around to see the rest of the creatures continuing to fight until they vanished as they were beamed back to their planet.

With Chekov certain that the aliens were no longer on board, he pulled out his communicator. "Enterprise, come in Enterprise."

"Go ahead, Mr. Chekov," Kirk announced from his captain's chair.

"We have successfully retaken the McNair sir however, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Patrick were beamed off with the rest of the creatures."

Kirk attempted to hold back his feelings yet he was discouraged. "Be prepared to flood the ship with anyon emissions, we need to clear all those rodents out of there. More teams will be coming on board, we will restore power and take back custody of the ship."

"Acknowledged," Chekov closed his communicator.

* * *

Tynan sneered as he walked deeper into the caves of his base camp. His soldiers stopped and stood with their backs against the wall as he passed by and loomed over them.

Cora and Bones were forced to follow behind him and Vibok was on their heels to ensure their cooperation. McCoy was relieved to no longer be strung up and savored the time his arms could relax.

"I don't suppose you have a plan to get us out of this one," McCoy mumbled to Cora.

"Keep quiet," Vibok ordered as he pushed his staff into McCoy's lower back.

Cora kept her eyes open as she realized they were in the same place Sulu described being held with Captain Kirk. She remembered how they were able to escape, but knew they wouldn't be as lucky.

Tynan continued to push forward with determination. He spoke to Vibok in their native tongue who then acknowledged. The group turned the corner then Vibok grabbed McCoy and pulled him into a cavern.

"Wait, where are you taking her?" McCoy demanded.

Vibok ignored him as he strung him back up. McCoy took a deep breath as the monstrous man in front of him picked him up off the ground and hung him from his wrists.

"Okay, we're back to this again," Bones snipped. "What's next, you're going to tickle me with a feather?"

"What is the complement of your star ship?" Vibok asked. McCoy stared back at him without an answer. "You will tell me the weaknesses of your vessel. What are your access codes?"

"Do we have to go through this all over again?" McCoy asked. "McCoy, Leonard, Lt. Commander-"

Vibok struck him across the face with his staff. "Answer me!" He demanded.

"No," McCoy calmly replied. "You won't get any information from me. I'm not going to help you kidnap our crew to do your manual labor. Which doesn't make sense to me since you are obviously twice as strong as we are. Seems like it would be easier if you just did your own dirty work," he snarked.

His captor stepped closer towards him and stared him in the eyes. "You are only making things more difficult on yourself. Now, I advise you to tell me everything that I want to know." He stood before him holding his staff in a threatening way.

"Or what? You've already beaten me, what are a few more broken bones? Besides, I would think you would want to keep me around, big strong man like myself, you can get plenty of work out of me. Not to mention that I'm cute as the dickens," McCoy sneered.

"I'm pretty sure that I would be able to change your mind about that," Vibok tilted his head. He pressed a button on his vest and spoke in his alien language.

McCoy's eyes widened as he heard a woman screaming out in pain coming from another part of the caves. "What are you doing to her? Stop!"

He pressed the button again and gave an update. She went silent.

McCoy hung from his bindings panting at all the horrible thoughts that went through his mind, yet those screams continued to echo in his ears.

"Now, I suggest we start again. How many crew members are on board your ship?"

McCoy looked back on him with heartbreak in his eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

_Captain's Log, Supplemental: We have successfully retaken the McNair. After flooding the ship with anyon emissions we were able to dephase the cloaked Latkins and exterminate them. Mr. Spock and Mr. Sulu have been restoring power to the ship as safely as possible._

 _We have a skeleton crew on board the McNair and our main objective is to locate our missing crew members as well as those who have been held captive on the hidden planet… which we have been unable to pinpoint its exact location._

* * *

Sulu stood at a star chart where he was working on finding the precise location of the planet he and Kirk were on before escaping. After a quick consultation with Scotty, he called over his captain.

"What do you have?" Kirk asked.

"What we are able to put together, based on what we know of the gravitational pull from the surrounding stars, the missing planet should be about here," Sulu pointed to the map.

"So, we are surmising that the entire planet has be cloaked?" Kirk asked.

"Yes sir," Sulu responded.

"How is that even possible?" Kirk asked.

"Well, if it were me," Scotty started, "I would set up buoys around the planet and put together an elaborate cloaking field. That could work."

"Is there any way to locate them? How would we go about dismantling them?" Kirk questioned.

"I think I have a way to do that, I will get working on it," Scotty rushed out back towards engineering.

"Spock," Kirk called out.

"Yes, captain."

"Assemble a strike team, I want to be ready to go get our crew back."

"Acknowledged."

Kirk stared off into the empty void where the planet was hidden. "Hang in there Bones, we're coming to get you."

* * *

Vibok left the cavern where McCoy was being held captive. McCoy fiercely struggled against his bindings knowing that was the prime time to escape but had no luck. He attempted to balance himself while standing on his tip toes. He tried to focus his attention on his own pain and suffering instead of the shrilling screams he knew were coming from Cora. He couldn't imagine how they were torturing her, but he felt responsible.

McCoy opened his eyes as he realized how quiet everything became. There was no screaming, no yelling from the guards. For the briefest of moments, he felt as if Jim were coming to rescue him. That idea soon faded as he saw Tynan standing in the archway.

"I understand that you are still resisting to give us the information we requested," Tynan spoke softly.

"You're damn right I am," he attempted to reply unfazed by Cora's pain.

"I am sure you have come to realize that we have our ways of getting what we want. If you will not give us the information, then perhaps the female will," Tynan stared him in the eye. "After all, she's been primed to start answering our questions."

It took all the strength he could muster to not say anything. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she ended up even worse.

Some time had passed. Bones couldn't accurately calculate how long, perhaps a half hour, hour, maybe even two. But in all that time, he didn't hear anything from Cora; which could have been a good or a bad sign.

Tynan stormed back into his cell. "You should be proud," he chuckled. "The female is just as stubborn as you are. Unfortunately, she isn't as strong as you."

Tynan stepped back against the wall as Vibok carried in Cora's body over his shoulder then tossed her onto the ground as though she were trash.

McCoy couldn't see her face as she laid in the dirt. He thrashed and kicked and screamed at his captors. He was more determined than ever to not give them what they wanted, at any cost.

* * *

"Scotty, tell me you have something," Kirk called out over the communicator.

"I believe I do, however I must warn you that it might not work," Scotty announced.

"Understood. So, what's the plan?" Kirk asked.

"It is a variation on flooding the ship with the anyon emissions; since we can't necessarily flood open space, I have to create a bubble and then flood that—"

"But you can do it?" Kirk asked.

"Theoretically, yes. We won't know if it works until we try it," Scotty explained.

"Good. Get it done," Kirk authorized.

* * *

Tynan left Bones alone with Cora's motionless body face down in the filth and rocks of the ground.

McCoy closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them up again. He fixated on Cora's body. He studied her to watch for any trace of breathing, but didn't see any movement. He had hoped that she was just playing one of her games again, pretending in case someone was in the cell with them.

"Cora," he whispered. "Cora, it's just me, answer me." His eyes examined her red uniform up and down. He finally allowed himself to come to terms with the truth, that she was dead.

He tried to hold in the rage that was brewing inside him. He decided to look at her one more time but this time it was different. His eyes focused on the hem of her uniform. He tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to understand it.

Suddenly his eyes shot open. He remembered how Cora ripped the bottom of her uniform dress to tie around his splint. He stared at the intact uniform of the woman in the dirt. "That's not Cora," he announced to himself. He let out a quick sigh of relief, but his attitude quickly changed as he wondered where she was and if she was safe.

"Let's go," Vibok announced as he entered the cavern. He unhooked McCoy and looked down on the woman's body. "I will be honest, I was hoping to get more information from the female, but she wasn't as strong as I thought she would be. You don't need to worry about her, she is of no use to us anymore."

McCoy knew that he had to find Cora and get out of there, although he was unsure how. The only thing he was certain about was that woman on the ground wasn't her.


	20. Chapter 20

One of Vibok's men grabbed ahold of McCoy's arm as they headed down the narrow carved out hallway. Bones tried to take in all of his surroundings to be able to find a way out and more importantly, locate Cora.

Another brute rushed towards them telling Vibok that he was needed at another part of the tunnels to tend to an emergency. Vibok turned towards the goon holding onto McCoy. "Take him to his cell."

"Yes, sir," he replied.

The two continued down the dirt path until he was brought to an empty room. McCoy knew this was his chance and swung around with his fists together towards his stomach, he then quickly turned the other way and jabbed him in the lower back right where Sulu told him. The guard fell down to his knees. McCoy grabbed his quarterstaff and smacked him across the head.

He pulled his unconscious body into the cell to remain out of sight. He then rushed to remove his vest knowing that there were controls that might be able to help him get away. He stuck his head out to make sure the coast was clear, he took off.

After ducking in and out of corners, trying to go unseen he noticed a man in a yellow shirt walk by down the corridor. He rushed out afterwards hoping that it was Jim. Until he finally caught up with him. "Hey," he forcefully whispered.

The man turned around wearing a Starfleet uniform yet his hands were shackled together and was holding a tray. He saw McCoy and his eyes flew open. "Who are you?"

McCoy pulled him aside, "are you part of the McNair crew?"

"Yes," he replied.

"I'm, from the Enterprise, we came out here to rescue you, however it's been a bit trickier than we expected," he admitted.

"Are you really here to save us?" He sounded bewildered.

"Yes, but first I need your help. Where is your captain?"

"Dead," he replied while looking solemn. "All of the senior officers are. They wouldn't give any of the information that they wanted. The rest of the crew, all those who are still alive work as slaves." He looked back towards where he was headed then to McCoy. "I can't be gone much longer, I will be punished."

"I'm looking for my friend, we were brought here together. She's a lieutenant, in the engineering department and she has short—"

"Brown hair," he finished.

"Yes!" McCoy was excited.

"She was down this way," he showed him where Cora was being held and gave him information on how to get out.

"Thank you," McCoy touched his arm. "What's your name, ensign?"

"Phillips, Robert Phillips, sir."

"I'll come back for you," McCoy promised as he headed in the opposite direction.

Bones moved from one end of the caverns to the other. He stood hidden as he watched two troops walk by on patrol then ran into the room he was told Cora was being held. He stood in shock as he saw her draped over a massive boulder with her arms tied to the ground. The backs of her arms and legs showed numerous bruises and bleeding from where she was beaten with he could only assume was a cane.

He checked for a pulse then let out a quick sigh as he started to untie her wrists. "Cora, wake up," he ordered in a hushed tone.

She moaned a bit but her eyes were shut and her body didn't move.

"Cora, we have to go… now," McCoy urged.

"Doc," she blurted.

"Yes, it's me, now let's get moving." With her untied, he pulled her into his arms and he leaned against the wall as he lightly tapped her face. "Cora, I need you conscious."

Cora's eyes blinked several times as she was coming out of her daze. "Doc?" She looked up at him bafflingly. "No, it can't be," she uttered.

"Oh but it is, and we need to get out of here before they know I'm gone."

"But you are gone. They said you were dead. I saw your body," she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or if what she was seeing was real.

McCoy took her face in his hands and looked directly into her eyes. "It's me, I'm alive, but we won't be if we don't get out of here."

She nodded as they wrapped their arms around each other for support. Her body was in excruciating pain, but she tried to tolerate it so they could escape.

"Come on, it's this way." The two hobbled along together trying to find the way out.

* * *

"We found it!" Scotty exclaimed as Kirk and Spock rushed towards him.

"The planet?" Kirk questioned.

"Well, yes and no. We located one of the buoys they have laid out. It's exactly as I've figured they would have done it."

"That's great," Kirk sparked.

"Well, not exactly sir. If we were to destroy the cloak and set off a chain reaction, they would know we were coming and I'm sure they're prepared for something like that."

"Would it be possible to maybe poke a hole in there? Maybe we can beam a small group down to the planet?" Kirk asked.

"Aye, that is theoretically possible," Scotty nodded.

"Captain, I must advise against type of engagement," Spock started. "We do not know if beaming down to the planet would be successful, let alone if we would be able to beam you back. The risk is too great."

Kirk pulled Spock away from the group. "Spock, those are our guys down there. There's a Federation crew down there. We need to do everything we can to save them. If that means taking a few risks, then that's what we'll do."

"Taking risks is not the job of the captain. Therefore, I volunteer for this mission," Spock spouted.

"I appreciate that, I do. But I need you here to make sure we come back in one piece. I was held there, and have a better understanding of the layout and what we're up against."

"Understood," Spock agreed.

* * *

Kirk entered the transporter room where he was soon joined by Sulu.

"Permission to come along," Sulu stood at the edge of the transporter pad.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to it?" Kirk asked.

"Yes, and like you said, whatever knowledge we have of that planet could help."

"Great, come on," Kirk stood ready to go. "Where is he?" Kirk asked.

The door shot open as Chekov rushed in while securing a phaser to his hip. "I'm sorry I'm late, captain."

Kirk looked back and forth between the two. "We have to be prepared for anything." He then looked forward to Scotty behind the control panel. "Alright, Scotty. Energize."

"Let's hope this works," Scotty winced as he flipped the switch and the trio began to dematerialize.


End file.
